Mother Knows Best
by forever is never forever
Summary: Post Tornado Girl, Daniel starts to really think about the comment Claire made about Daniel having a crush on Betty. Detty, duh.
1. Chapter 1

I thought of this story, after this past Thursday's episode, _Tornado Girl_. My inspiration came from when Claire was talking to Daniel about his crush and when she suggested that it was Betty. **But for my sake, Alexis is still around. Just an fyi. **So enjoy.

Disclaimer: Yeah, if I owned Betty, well, it'd be very, very Detty!

Daniel Meade sat at his desk, turning back and forth in his chair. With every turn, he was just added one more crease and wrinkle into his purple designer dress shirt. But, his appearance was the last thing from Daniel Meade's mind. The only thing that he could focus on was his sweet, cherub-like assistant. And the echoing words of his mother suggesting that he, Daniel Meade, would have a crush on the brightly dressed and very intellectual woman that he stared at threw the glass. It was creepy how much he was watching her these days. His work was piling up, he hadn't had sex with some complete stranger in almost a week, and he had even forgotten to shave once already. Daniel was truly hit by cupid's arrow and he was hit hard.

These days, Daniel would call Betty into his office for the smallest of details. Daniel sat there thinking of a way to get Betty into his office today, "Oh, Betty what do you think of this color scheme?" "Betty, does the placement of this article next to this picture flow?" "Betty, what's that sandwich guy, Gio, selling today?" "Does this tie look alright with this shirt? I have a date tonight (_Betty, I'm lying, I'm sure you know that, but answer me anyways, I love to just hear your voice)._" "Hey, Betty! How are you today? I'm pretty sure I'm in love with you and that whole time you were with Walter, Henry, and then Gio, I was dieing on the inside."

"_I think the last one should wait," _Daniel thought cynically to himself.

Betty looked up from her work and turned to look into Daniel's office as she did every morning at 10 AM. Daniel smiled and motioned for her to come in. Betty motioned that she'd be there in one minute. Betty finished typing up her email and then got up and went to Daniel's office.

"What's up?" Betty asked just as cheery as she always does.

"How are you?" Daniel asked coolly.

Betty gave him a weird look, "What?"

"How are you? You always ask me how I am and I end up spilling my life problems on you. So, I'm asking just in case you have any life problems you want to get off your chest," Daniel replied sincerely.

"Oh, well that's very considerate of you Daniel. I'm great actually. My apartment is finally just the way I want it. And just between you and me, I might have a date this Friday," Betty exclaimed excitedly.

"_Date?!" _Daniel thought in a panic, but remained a cool on the outside, "Oh? With wh-who?"

"Just this guy, Jesse, he lives across the hall from me. I might go see him and his band," Betty shrugged.

Daniel nearly exploded upon hearing Betty was going out with a guy in a _band_. He didn't like the idea whatsoever. It killed Daniel to see Betty date all of those other guys, but at least they were in the work place and he could play the caring boss and go ruff them up a little if they had hurt Betty. But a band guy meant that he had no control over what happened and he knew a lot could happen. The only thing Daniel could imagine was this sly, guitarist taking advantage of his innocent Betty. No, he couldn't let that happen, not as long as he was Daniel Meade, one-third owner of the Meade Company. _One third. Thanks a lot Wilhelmina. _

"Daniel? Hey? Are you okay?" Betty asked as she placed a concerned hand on his shoulder.

"Oh, yeah. Betty, really? He's a guy in a band," Daniel asked over protectively.

Betty gave him the 'Really, Daniel? Really?' look, "You don't know Jesse, he's very sweet and kind."

"Isn't this the guy that took your umbrella without your permission?" Daniel asked skeptically.

"Hey, he returned it," Betty defended.

"I just don't want to see you get hurt again. I…care about you," Daniel said carefully.

A sweet smile appeared on her face, "Thank you Daniel, you're such a good friend. I'll be fine, I promise. So, is there anything you need me for?"

"Uh, no actually I'm good. But are you doing anything for lunch?" Daniel asked.

Betty thought a moment," No, why?"

"Well, because, I was talking it over with Alexis and she want you to contribute to this month's issue. It's nothing big. It's 300 words max, but you can write about anything you want, as long as it's relevant to fashion. She was really impressed the way you handled the Adriana Lima incident and I wanted to take you out to lunch to congratulate you," Daniel explained.

"Oh my God! Are you serious?!" Betty jumped excitedly.

A big smile spread across Daniel's face, "Yeah."

"Thank you Daniel! I'll clear my schedule so we can lunch!" Betty added, still beaming.

"Don't thank me, this was all because of you," Daniel corrected.

Betty smiled, her cute brace-y smile, "So, twelve for lunch?"

"Yeah, our reservation is at 12:30," Daniel told her.

"You made reservations even though you hadn't asked me?" Betty laughed.

Daniel smiled again, "I figured you come."

Betty rolled her eyes in an amused fashion as she left Daniel's office. He watched her for a second and then stared at the empty doorway for another minute. Betty's words echoed in Daniel's mind, 'you're such a good friend.' _Good friend? I guess it's better than just 'friend' but still. God, I hate this. Thanks a lot mom. I was perfectly happy in my little dream world where Betty wasn't the focus of my life. But now, in the reality of it all, I want to be with her. But, she's better off without me. She needs someone who can talk about art and literature and stuff. I'm not that guy. God, reality sucks. _

This is my first Ugly Betty story, so I would really love feedback and ideas. Both are very good!


	2. Chapter 2

Thank you guys so much for the wonderful reviews and adding this story to your favorite/alert story. It means a lot! So I'm adding some themes from the episode _Crush'd _in this chapter. More reviews are always welcomed! :D

Disclaimer: Still, I own nothing.

Betty busily tried to finish up all her work so she and Daniel could have a nice, relaxed lunch. When noon struck, Betty was done. She was quite proud of herself. Betty gathered up her bag and jacket and walked over to Daniel's office. Daniel was busy with looking like he was doing something by playing solitaire on the computer. Daniel's all time record was only 91 seconds. Betty smiled, "Did you beat your record yet?"

"Almost. Oh, hey Betty," Daniel smiled as he clicked the 'X' on the window.

"Ready?" Betty asked.

Daniel nodded, "Yep. So when you do start at Y.E.T.I.?"

"Not until next week," Betty told him with a big smile.

"I'm really proud of you," Daniel said earnestly.

"Thanks, Daniel, so where are we going?" Betty asked as the pair walked down the hallway.

"You'll see," Daniel said slyly.

"You forgot to make reservations didn't you?" Betty asked with a smile.

An embarrassed grin appeared on Daniel's face, "No, I made them, but they dropped my reservations for Bradgelina."

"And you can't flex your Daniel Meade power?" Betty asked jokingly.

Taking her seriously, Daniel whipped out his cell, "If you give me a half an hour I can get-"

"Daniel, it's fine. Um, we could go back to my apartment and I could call my dad and see if he could come by and make us something. Plus, my dad really likes you and he'd be happy to see you again," Betty consoled him.

"Sounds good," Daniel agreed, liking the idea of seeing Betty's apartment and more importantly Betty's father liking him, "We can take my car."

"Wait, _you're _going to drive?" Betty asked, completely shocked.

Daniel gave her a confused look as the entered the elevator, "What? Are you saying I'm a bad driver?"

"No, I have never been with you when you drive," Betty clarified as she hit the button for the garage.

"I promise you won't die," Daniel assured her.

"Oh, now I feel safe," Betty, giggled.

The two located Daniel's Ferrari. Being the gentleman Daniel was, he opened the passenger door for Betty and helped her in. He got in and the two headed for Betty's place. On the way Betty called Ignacio, who was happy to oblige. Daniel swerved his way through the Manhattan traffic and to Betty's apartment. The Ferrari roared to a stop and Daniel quickly got out so he could help Betty out, who was getting a little unnerved by all this gentlemanly attention she was getting from Daniel. Betty tried to figure out what was up with Daniel as the climbed the four flights of stairs. _Sure it's nice, but it's a little weird for a regular guy. Maybe it's just Daniel is being extra nice because he wants me to be happy about this Y.E.T.I. thing and being able to contribute to Mode. Or he wants me to work overtime. Either way. It's still a little weird. Or maybe I'm ju-_

Betty was unable to finish her thought because of what she saw when she rounded the corner to her apartment. There was Amanda and Jesse kissing in the hallway. Daniel was pretty sure he could hear Betty's heart shatter. Betty tried to turn so she could run away, but Daniel stopped her. She tried to push him away so she could run back down the stairs, but Daniel's strong muscular arms wouldn't allow her to. He merely cleared his throat in an authoritative manner, which immediately cause Amanda to stop when she saw who was watching them. Jesse was confused for a moment until he saw the heartbroken Betty standing there.

"Betty..." was the only thing to come out of Jesse's mouth.

"Amanda what are you doing here?" Daniel asked coldly.

Amanda smoothed out her skirt, "I was just coming to check up on Halston when I tripped and this guy here caught me and I was just thanking him."

Daniel raised an eyebrow, "Just get back to work."

"Yeah sure. Oh, Betty make sure to give Halston some water when you go inside. He's really thirsty," Amanda called back as she headed for the stairs.

Jesse tried to approach Betty, but Daniel immediately stepped in, "I think you should go."

"Betty, please, I just-" he was cut off my Daniel again.

"Get out of here."

Jesse gave up and headed for the stairs. Daniel turned to Betty, "I'm sorry."

"I guess, he meant I was beautiful on the inside," mumbled Betty.

"What?"

"Jesse told me that I was beautiful, but I guess he meant I have an inner beauty," she grumbled, feeling that horrible feeling she felt when Henry left all over again.

"It's true, Betty you do have an inner beauty. But you are also beautiful," Daniel said with a genuine smile.

"Yeah right," she scoffed as she opened her door.

Daniel followed her, still persistent, "You are Betty. You're one of the most attractive women I've ever known and truly cared about."

"Thank you, Daniel, even if you are just saying that," Betty replied giving him a sad smile as she sat down on her couch.

"But I'm not, Betty that's the thing. I honestly think you're very beautiful," he continued sincerely sitting next to her.

Betty sighed, "This is my fault. I promised myself no romantic entanglements!"

"You can't help that every guy wants you, Betty," Daniel joked, trying to lighten the mood.

"Shut up," she replied as she play hit him.

Daniel smiled and looked at her with his bright blue eyes of his, "Betty, whether you want to face it or not, you're very beautiful."

"Okay, that's enough Daniel, I feel better now," Betty sighed as she was actually feeling better. Betty smiled; _Daniel always puts me in a good mood. Well most of the time. It's kind of cute when he forgets to do something that he'll do more than what is necessary to make up for it. Or when he's trying to cheer me up, he's so persistent. _

As she sat there, Betty began to realize how much she thinks of Daniel, but not in any specific way. She just thinks about him. However, Daniel soon yanked her from her thoughts about her thoughts. He placed a hand on her shoulder, "Betty, you still with me?"

"Oh yeah, sorry. I just sort of zoned out for a second," Betty apologized.

"What were you thinking about?" Daniel asked.

Feeling embarrassed Betty made up a little white lie, "Oh, just how I'm going to hate seeing Jesse around here for the next few days."

The light bulb went off in Daniel's head, he figured out a way to kill two birds with one stone. Help get Betty over Jesse and help her see how much he cares for her. _It's fool-proof, even for an idiot like me_, "Why don't you stay with me for a few days?"

"Oh, no I could never impose on you," Betty said politely. _How awkward would that be? Especially with me thinking about all of the sudden. _

"It's no problem at all," he assured her.

"Daniel, I've been to you apartment. You only have one bedroom," Betty pointed out.

"So, I'll sleep on the couch. I just think it'd be better for you to get away from here just for a few days. Yeah you could go stay with your family, but even with the great family you have, this type of thing is better off left with friends," Daniel added. _C'mon Betty, I'm practically begging you here! _

Betty nodded, "You're right, Daniel. Let me grab a few things real quick."

Betty ran off into her bedroom and began to quickly pack up a few days worth of clothes. While Daniel waited, he was doing his own little personal victory dance. He was on his way to showing Betty how much he cared about her. _I may not be the arts-y, well versed literature major Betty deserves, but maybe I can be enough. _

**Man, you guys really hit that 'review' button. I'm not saying you should stop, because, you shouldn't! Keep hitting that button! I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter!**


	3. Chapter 3

Well, here's chapter three. Again, thank you all for your support by adding this story to your favorites and hitting that amazing review button.

Disclaimer: Still, nothing!

Daniel had just come back from putting Betty's bags in his car when he found her on the phone talking to her dad. Betty was trying to explain to her Ignacio what was going on, "No, Dad, I'm not moving in with Daniel. I'm just staying with him until the work on my apartment is done."

"But why Daniel?" Ignacio asked, "Why not Christina? Or better yet, why not come home?"

"I can't stay with Christina because she needs to spend as much time with Stewart as possible. And I can't come papi, because we're pressed for time for the new issue since they bumped out deadline up. So, I need to be able to get to work rather quickly," Betty explained. _So, there's no work on my apartment, but we do have a deadline to make. _

Daniel chuckled. Never he would have thought that Betty would lie, let alone to her dad. He could hear Ignacio sigh, "Alright, alright. But promise me you'll come to dinner one night this week?"

"Oh course, papi," Betty assured him.

"You could bring Daniel if you want," Ignacio offered.

"Sure, if he wants to," Betty said as she looked at Daniel, "Well, I have to go."

"Alright, I love you," Ignacio said.

"Love you too, papi," Betty told him and then hung up.

"What's going on?" Daniel asked.

Betty shook her head, "Nothing, my dad just wants me to come home for dinner one night and he invited you as well."

"I'd love to come, as long as that's okay with you," Daniel said happily.

"Yeah, it's fine. Justin will love to see you again," Betty added as the two left her apartment.

Daniel chuckled again. Betty just gave him a confused look, "What?"

"I didn't think you lied," Daniel explained with a smile on his face.

"I lie all the time," Betty pointed out as they walked towards his car.

"Like when?" Daniel asked skeptically.

Betty smirked, "Like when you make me deliver a Tiffany necklace and roses to some girl you had a one nightstand with. And I tell them, and I quote 'Daniel's really sorry he couldn't see you today. But he wanted me to give you this'."

"I haven't made you do that in forever," Daniel defended as he got in the driver's seat.

"Occasionally you still do," Betty corrected.

Daniel shook his head, "But I haven't recently."

"True. Why is that? There are usually like fifty girls text messaging you a day," Betty asked.

Daniel started the car and sped towards his apartment, "Well, there's this one girl, but we're just friends and I don't really want to ruin that because she's a great friend. But I do really like her." _Really like her, that's an understatement. _

"Daniel, you should go for it. How can this girl not like you back?" Betty encouraged him, even though she felt a little hurt knowing that Daniel had someone more important in his life and he hadn't told her. _I know I'm just his assistant, but I thought we were closer than that. Close enough where he could tell me things like that. _

"That the problem, I'm afraid that if she doesn't like me back then I'll have ruined our friendship," Daniel sighed. _Betty, I really want to tell you, but I'm scared. _

"Is she your best friend?" Betty asked, feeling petty for asking a question like that, like she was a jealous third grader.

"Yeah, she is. I've only known her for two years, but still," Daniel reminisced, but soon realized that Betty hadn't realized that he was talking about her. And the one thing that Daniel desperately wanted to do was stop in car and tell her that he was talking about her. _Betty, I know you're probably now jealous and mad that I never told you about this 'girl' but this girl is you! _

Betty smiled, "Oh."

"But you're just as important to me Betty," Daniel assured her.

"Good to know," she replied.

"No, really you are. You keep my life and myself in order. I honestly don't know what I'd do with you, Betty," Daniel said, feeling a bit guilty.

"I know," Betty assured him.

Daniel pulled in to the parking garage of his apartment building. The two got out and headed for the elevator. Daniel hit the button for the eighth floor and then turned to Betty, "Why don't we go to the beach today?"

"Daniel, it's the middle of November," Betty pointed out.

"So, we'll just go and sit on the beach, maybe pack a lunch. I still feel bad about out lunch date falling through," Daniel explained as he exited the elevator.

Betty smiled at Daniel's cuteness, "Okay, I guess I can handle a picnic on the beach."

"Great!" Daniel exclaimed.

Daniel unlocked the door and they walked in. He's apartment looked about the same the last time Betty saw it. Daniel placed Betty's things on to the couch. But, then thought of a certain stack of a certain illicit magazines hit Daniel like a ton of brinks. _Damn it, I have to get ride of them! _"Uh, Betty I'll be right back. I just realized my room's a mess and if you're going to stay there…I'd feel bad that you'd have to stay in the mess."

"You have to hid your dirty magazines don't you?" Betty asked, reading him like a book.

Daniel's cheeks grew a healthy red, "Yeah."

"Okay," Betty laughed.

Daniel quickly ran to his room and threw the magazines in his closet. He came back looking a little less embarrassed, "Okay, so let's go."

"Okay," Betty agreed.

The two left the apartment and yet again headed for Daniel's Ferrari. On the way to the beach they stopped at some chic sandwich shop that sold strictly organic sandwiches and some how the saved the rainforest that way. Then they were off to the beach. Once there, they found it was deserted. But, it was after all the middle of November, but then again, it was a beautiful day, cold but beautiful. They grabbed their sandwiches and Daniel brought along the blanket that he bought at the organic sandwich shop for $75. _I just wanted the blanket, I didn't need to know that it was 100% organic cotton and farmed on a fair-trade farm with no pesticides and natural dyes. God, just take the freaking MasterCard that is made of un-recycled plastic! _

They found a sunny spot and laid the blanket out on the sand. Betty sat right next to Daniel to keep warm, she was practically in his lap, but Daniel didn't mind one bit. He was actually brave enough to put his arm around her, but Betty dismissed the action, figuring that he was only doing it because it was cold. The pair sat there and ate their organic sandwiches and watched the waves roll in.

"This is nice," Betty sighed as she finished the last bite of her sandwich.

Daniel nodded, "Yeah it is."

**So, they basically went on an unofficial date! Thanks again for the reviews! **


	4. Author Notes

Hey guys, I want to thank you all for your support of this story. I've been having some computer trouble, so I'm not entirely sure when the next chapter is going to be posted. I have most of it hand written, it's just the matter of getting it typed up. Hopefully, my laptop will be up and running by next week, but if not, I'm very sorry. Thanks for waiting!

Sara (aka forever is never forever)

Go Detty!


	5. Chapter 5

Thanks for the reviews, guys. So, I have a question for you guys. I take French, so I know nothing of Spanish, so what is that 'name' Ignacio uses when he talks to Hilda or Betty? I think it means something like, "my love" or something along those lines. I'd really appreciate it! And thanks for being patient about the updating!

Disclaimer: Still, nothing!

By the time Daniel and Betty got home, it was dark. The two of them called in sick for the rest of the day. Alexis was furious when she found out they had called out sick, more so with Daniel than Betty. She nearly hit the roof when she found out that her brother never showed back up for work. Alexis was especially mad, since they did have a deadline to make.

Daniel and Betty flopped down on the couch; they spent a good portion of their day out in traffic. The two breathed a sigh of relief; they were finally out of Daniel's tiny Ferrari. Sure, you look cool for a couple hours, but after three hours in it, you start to feel less cool. You start to feel cramped and Closter phobic. Betty stretched and took her jacket off and threw in onto the floor. Daniel stared at it for a moment. Betty laughed, "I would have never know you were secretly a neat freak."

"Oh, I'm not," Daniel replied. _It just looks so right in place there. Like, she's lived with me forever. _

"Do you want me to pick it up?" Betty asked as she leaned over to get it.

"No, no. It's fine," he assured her.

Betty looked around for a minute, "So, what now?"

"I have some movies from Netflix somewhere around here," Daniel offered.

"I know there's not late fee, but really Daniel," Betty joked.

He smiled, "You'd be surprised, I don't get out very much."

"You, Daniel Meade, don't get out very much?" Betty asked.

"No, between work and dealing with my family's crazy antics, I'm pretty booked. Although, I did make more time when DJ was around," Daniel sighed.

"I know you miss him," Betty soothed.

"It's just ever since DJ entered my life, I now like the idea of having kids and a family," Daniel explained, _I would like to have kids and a family with you Betty, but right now I'm spilling my life to you again. And this time you didn't even ask. Sorry, about that. _

"You'll find the right woman Daniel," Betty encouraged.

Daniel smiled a little, _I already have Betty, I already have_, "Hopefully."

Betty yawned, "I think I'm going to go to sleep."

"Already? It's only 9," Daniel pointed out.

"Yeah, but sitting in traffic takes a lot out of a person," Betty joked.

"Okay, I'll be in to brush my teeth later tonight. That won't wake you up, will it?" Daniel asked in a concerned tone.

"No, not at all," Betty assured him as she took her bags from the couch and headed to the back of the apartment.

She put her one bag with her clothing onto the chair that was sitting in the corner of the bedroom. Betty dug through the couple days worth of clothing and picked out her cherry pajamas. She went into the bathroom and changed. Betty came back out and put her dirty clothes in another back. And then going to another smaller, Betty pulled out two hair ties and she then proceeded to put her hair into low pigtails. Going back into then same smaller bag, she pulled out her toothbrush and toothpaste. Betty headed back into the bathroom to brush her teeth. Once she was done, Betty settled herself into Daniel's bed.

Betty smiled at the thought of how Daniel's bed was very comfortable. Whenever she was in a strange bed, it took Betty half the night to get somewhat comfortable. But, this bed wasn't strange, it was just Daniel's. She snuggled under the covers and drifted off into a peaceful sleep knowing she'd see Daniel first thing in the morning.

Hours had passed and Daniel and stayed up to watch one of the Netflix movies that he had laying around. However, he had fallen asleep within the first half hour. Waking up around 1 am, Daniel rubbed the sleep from his eyes and stood up. He looked at the blanket and pillows strangely. _Why are those out? _

Shrugging his shoulders, Daniel headed off to his bathroom to change and brush his teeth. Being the absent-minded guy Daniel was sometimes, it slipped his mind that Betty was spending a week or so with him. So Daniel slipped himself into his nice and oddly warm bed.

Morning came around and oddly enough Daniel was the first to get up. Usually, he'd hit the snooze button a couple of times before he could physically get up. Daniel's crystal blue eyes opened to see the angelic face of his assistant sleeping next to him. Those crystal blue eyes soon became wide with panic. The first thing Daniel did was to make sure he wasn't naked. _Oh, thank God! If we would have…I would have never forgiven myself for it. _Daniel couldn't even wrap his mind around the idea of ruining the relationship he was working for by sleeping with Betty. Let alone their great friendship.

As panic left his body, in knowing that he and Betty didn't sleep together, a small grin appeared of Daniel's face. Besides the fact of his small panic attack, it seemed almost natural to wake up next to Betty. He watched her for a minute or so before carefully getting out of bed. He grabbed some clothes from his closet, deciding to get dressed in the kitchen. Daniel quietly chuckled, _It wouldn't be the worst thing my neighbors saw me doing in the kitchen._

He made his way into his kitchen and got dressed. Daniel caught a glance of his neighbors staring at him. He waved at them dumbly and pulled the curtain over. _Why do I forget to do that in the first place?_

Daniel then decided that he wanted to take Betty out for breakfast, so the only thing he had was a small glass of orange juice. While he sat at his kitchen table, checking emails, Daniel began to get deeper in thought about Betty. _It's nice to wake up to someone I actually care about, then some random girl whose name I can't remember. _

Betty woke up to the sound of her phone's alarm going off. She groaned as she sat up to reach the phone on the nightstand. Turning off the alarm, Betty then looked to the side of the bed where Daniel was. _ I swear, someone was just there. _Betty place her hand on the mattress, she could feel lingering warmth under her hand. Betty smiled; _he must have forgotten I was here. _She let out a small laugh as she got out of bed to get dressed.

**Yeah, I know it's short, but I'm working with limited computer time. New update soon!**


	6. Chapter 6

First off I want to thanks those of you who gave me the answer to my question, you know who you are. Haha. Second, I want to say sorry for the delay. Third of all, I'm changing some stuff up from the episode "Bad Amanda" to fit this lovely story. And finally, this chapter is a significant filler chapter, if there is such a thing. Sort of a stepping stone to the next 'big' event in the story. Hope you enjoy nevertheless!

Disclaimer: Still, nothing!

Claire Meade walked down the hallways of Mode to come across Wilhelmina and Marc watching a security tape. She was first mad about Wilhelmina getting a hold of the security tape, but that anger was out matched by seeing Daniel kissing Molly on the TV screen. Claire watched as an evil grin grew upon Wilhelmina's face and as Marc squealed in delight. Claire stormed off in a huff as she quickly dialed Daniel's number. It rang a few times, but the only thing Claire reached was Daniel's voicemail. She scowled at her Blackberry as she tired to call again, but nothing.

--

Daniel and Betty sat at a small café, waiting for their breakfast. While sitting there, Daniel had forgotten that he hadn't taken his heart medication that morning. He took the little pill out and quickly popped it, hoping that Betty didn't see him. But she did see him. A frown appeared on her face, "Daniel, what was that?"

"Nothing," he replied nonchalantly.

"It was something, Daniel. What was it?" Betty continued, worried that Daniel was starting his drug habit again.

He sighed, "It was my heart medication."

"Heart medication? Why are you taking that?" Betty asked, genuinely worried as her suspicion grew to concern.

"It seems that the one thing my dad did give me was a bad heart," Daniel mumbled.

"But you're so young, why do you need to take it now?" Betty asked.

"My doctor just wants to play it safe, because I was having chest pain a while ago," Daniel confessed.

Worry was written all over Betty's face, "Daniel, why haven't you ever told me this?"

"I didn't want you to worry. I mean, you had so much on your plate already, the last thing you need was to worry about your boss and his heart problems," Daniel explained, feeling guilty about leaving Betty in the dark.

Betty smiled and put her hand on his, "Daniel, you're more than just my boss. You're like my best friend. You and Christina are the closest and best friends I have. I can't believe you never told me."

"Thanks, Betty. You're the best," Daniel said. "And you already know how important you are to me."

Betty's hand never left Daniel's. The while they waited for their food, Betty's hand never moved and in fact, Daniel held it so she wouldn't let go. He only let go once the food had arrived.

Once their food came, not much was said between the two, since they were both starved. But once they had their fill and were now waiting for the check, their conversation started up again.

"You do know, since I now know about the heart medication, I won't let you forget about it," Betty said half jokingly and half serious.

"I know," Daniel laughed.

Daniel paid for the bill, but not without protest from Betty of course. Then the two hopped into Daniel's town car and headed for Mode. Once there, an angry Claire immediately swiped Daniel away from Betty. But Betty merely shook it off as a Meade-family thing and headed for her desk.

Claire dragged Daniel to a secluded hallway and gave him her 'very disappointed, but still pissed as hell' look. Daniel returned his mother's look with his own confused one, "What?"

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Claire demanded.

"What? I can't take Betty out to breakfast?" Daniel asked defensively.

"No, not that. I'm talking about you kissing Molly, the fiancée of your senior financial advisor, in the Mode closet!" Claire scolded quietly.

"Mom, it was nothing…it…it was a thank you kiss, because I lent her a dress for her charity dinner," Daniel retorted as he defended his actions.

"No thank you kiss lasts five minutes Daniel, trust me I know. I told you to stay away from her. No good can come from you getting involved with this woman. I'm only telling you this because I love you, Daniel and I don't want your heart to be broken or for you to ruin your friendship with Connor…or Betty," Claire said soothingly.

"How would I ruin my friendship with Betty?" Daniel asked skeptically.

"You can't be serious Daniel," Claire asked, quite shocked.

Daniel just stared at his mother. Claire sighed as she sat down on one of the chairs that were in the hallway. She motioned for Daniel to do the same and he did. Claire took her son's hand into hers, "Daniel, whether you realize it yet or not, you love her. And whether Betty has realized it yet or not, she loves you as well. I have never seen such a better couple than you two. Your chemistry is amazing. I've watched you two fall in love for the past two years, Daniel. I don't know how blind you could be not to see it. Not to see her."

Daniel was quiet as he carefully thought about what his mother was saying to him. He nodded in understanding; "She's staying with me for a week or so."

"Is she?" Claire asked, elated.

"Yeah," Daniel said with a smile.

"And you haven't realized you love her yet?" Claire asked.

"No, I have. It's just, I'm scared, Mom," Daniel admitted.

"About what dear?" Claire asked with motherly concern.

Daniel sighed, "That she doesn't love me back. I know you say she does, I'm just afraid that if I say anything too soon that I'll screw it up. And even if she does love me back, but it doesn't work out, then I'll have ruined out friendship. And as selfish as this sounds, I don't want her to go to Y.E.T.I.., I don't want to lose her Mom. I think I'll go crazy if I didn't see her everyday at work."

"Then once she's done at Y.E.T.I. just hire her," Claire said as if it were nothing.

"Mom, she wants her own magazine, I could never make her come back Mode to work on something she doesn't enjoy," Daniel sighed.

Claire smiled. Daniel gave her a weird look, "What?"

"I think it's cute how much thought you have put into this," Claire sighed.

"I just want her to be happy and if I'm not included in that happiness, that's fine," Daniel decided.

"You'll be apart of that happiness, I just know it," Claire cooed.

The pair stood up and Daniel hugged his mother. He pulled back, "Thanks, Mom."

"Anytime, dear," she assured him.

Daniel began to walk away, but Claire caught a hold of his suit jacket sleeve, "You're going to have to straighten things out with Connor. I think Wilhelmina is up to something, again."

Daniel nodded.

--

In the recesses of the Mode closet, sat Christina and Betty, they were talking about Christina's seventh month check up. Christina sighed, "The little bugger kept me up all night."

"Don't worry, you won't have much to do today," Betty assured her friend.

"And how do you know?" Christina asked, wanting in of Betty's knowledge.

"Oh, Daniel was telling me at breakfast that we're just finishing up this month's issue to send to the printers," Betty said with a shrug.

"You and Daniel had breakfast together?" Christina asked, "Did you meet him?"

"No, he and I walked from his apar-" Betty didn't finish her sentence.

"You were at his apartment last night?!" Christina exclaimed.

Betty shrugged, "It's nothing Christina. I'm just staying with Daniel until things with Jesse blow over."

"What happened with band-boy?" Christina asked as she propped her legs up onto a stool that was near by.

"I saw him and Amanda kissing in the hallway," Betty grumbled.

"I told you she was a bad roommate, especially with the best she could come up with for your missing food that some guy was living in your walls," Christina sighed.

"It doesn't matter," Betty said, "in some weird way Amanda and I get along pretty well in this twisted sisterly way."

"Well, as long as you and Daniel don't sleep together, I don't see the problem with staying with him," Christina said with a shrug.

Betty didn't answer right a way. Christina's jaw dropped open, "You slept with him?!"

"No! Not like that! I think he forgot that I was staying with him and we slept together, but we didn't actually sleep together!" Betty explained as her cheeks grew red.

Before Christina could say anything else, Daniel came in, "Christina, what happen to all the purple silk ties?"

Christina rolled her eyes in a huff, "Marc took them."

"Oh okay. Well, I'm going to sign out one of the other ties," Daniel explained.

"Alright, go ahead," Christina said with a nod.

Daniel left and the two women watched him leave. Christina smiled, "Stop staring at his ass!"

"I wasn't!" Betty retorted. _All right, so I was. Big deal. What's a hot boss good for if you can't stare at his ass once in a while? Wait…did I just say 'hot boss'? Ugh…life is too complicated. _

--

Daniel returned to his office after he signed out the tie. He found a note from his mother on his desk.

_Daniel, _

_I made reservations for you and Betty at Masa for seven. Hope you two like Japanese. _

_Love, _

_Mom. _

Daniel smiled. _Only Mom would do this. _He tucked the note into his pocket and then turned to his work. Only to be interrupted five minutes later by Alexis, she had a displeased look on her face.

"Where the hell were you, yesterday?" she demanded.

"I had a personal errand to run and I got caught up in traffic," Daniel lied as he went back to working on the computer.

"A personal errand? Is that the best you can come up with? Daniel, the issue needs to be sent to the printers tonight and you still haven't given me your editor's letter yet!" Alexis said, frustrated.

Daniel sighed, "I had to help Betty with something, it took longer than expected. There are you happy now? If you are, can you please go so I can finish up typing my letter?"

"Fine," she replied coldly.

**I love Claire, so I had to bring her into this story, haha. Also, I'm not sure where I'm going to go with the whole Daniel confronting Connor or not. It's not entirely important to the story, but it may come into play later on. Any ideas on that, I would love to hear from you guys! **


	7. Chapter 7

I was so disappointed when I realized that this week's UB was a repeat. So I wrote this chapter, haha. Hope you enjoy it! :D

Disclaimer: -sighs- Nothing.

--

Daniel wrote his letter from the editor. However, it was the shortest one he had ever written. He had much more on his mind, such as how to ask Betty to go to dinner without actually 'asking her out'. Daniel sent the letter to the publisher to be printed and then left his office in search of Betty. He found her in the Mode closet still with Christina. Daniel found the two were in hysterics over something. _I wonder what they're laughing about._ He didn't make his presence known just yet. He watched Betty for a moment, taking in her beauty. Daniel then stepped back for a moment, straightening himself out. He fixed his tie and smoothed out the wrinkles on his dark purple with lavender pinstripes shirt. Daniel walked casually into the Mode closet, inconspicuously 'browsing' the clothes in the closet. He then suddenly _noticed _Betty and Christina.

"Oh, hey Betty. Christina," Daniel greeted them.

Betty laughed, "Hi Daniel." Christina merely waved.

"So, Betty when did you tell your dad we'd be over for dinner?" Daniel asked, nonchalantly.

"Umm, tomorrow night. Why?" Betty asked.

"Oh, well my Mom had reservations at Masa, but she can't go. Would you care to go with me?" Daniel asked.

Betty smiled, "Yeah, sure!"

"Okay, we can stop back home before we go," Daniel said as he went to leave.

"Sounds good," Betty agreed.

Daniel left the two women. Christina smiled cheekily. Betty made a face, "What?"

"You two are going to go back 'home'? And then you're going out to dinner?" Christina asked.

Betty's brow furrowed, "Yeah? So?"

"So, when you're staying with a friend, especially a male friend, he doesn't call his place 'home'. Unless, you're more than just a friend to him," Christina clarified.

"I'm thinking craziness is a symptom of your pregnancy," Betty joked.

"Oh c'mon Betty, Daniel's been pining for you since I can remember!" Christina said frustrated. "He's in love with you!"

"Christina, you can't be serious. I'm the last person Daniel would be in love with," Betty retorted, but secretly hoping she was wrong.

Christina sighed, "Betty, I've seen the way he's looked at you. He loves you."

"Right," Betty said sarcastically, "I'll see you later."

"He loves you!" Christina called back.

Betty walked out of the Mode closet and was on her way to meet Daniel in his office. On her way, Betty ran into Claire, "Oh! Mrs. Meade, I'm so sorry!"

"It's not a problem dear," Claire assured her with a warm smile.

"Are you sure?" Betty asked concerned.

"Of course," Claire said waving her off.

Betty smiled, "Thank you for the reservations at Masa's."

"Not a problem," Claire said as she placed a hand softly on Betty's shoulder, "You two have fun. My son deserves a wonderful woman like yourself."

"Oh, thank you," Betty replied, a little bewildered by Claire's comment.

The two said their goodbyes and Betty continued on her way to Daniel's office. She walked into his office, but Daniel hadn't noticed that Betty was there. Betty watched him for a minute or so, a small smiled formed on her face. Elation filled Betty's body and butterflies soon filled her stomach. She had never felt like this around him before, she was never nervous around Daniel. He was just Daniel, her best friend. _Maybe I'm just letting what Christina said get to me. But why do I feel so worried that I'll say something stupid or I'll do something idiotic. Betty, just stop worrying! He's just Daniel! _

Daniel finally noticed Betty standing in his office. He chuckled to himself as he watched Betty trying to sort her thoughts. Daniel smiled, "Betty, are you okay?"

"Oh, yeah," she replied. Her cheeks turned a light pink.

"Are you ready to go?" Daniel asked as he grabbed his jacket.

Betty smiled nervously, "Yeah."

"Are you alright?" Daniel asked concerned.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she assured him.

"Okay."

The two left Daniel's office and walked to the elevators. Daniel hit the button for the garage. They got into Daniel's Ferrari and headed for his apartment. The drive was quiet and seemed a lot longer then it actually was for both Daniel and Betty. Neither of the two said anything until Daniel opened the door.

"What is Masa's like?" Betty asked quickly.

"Uh, expensive, but informal," Daniel summed up.

"Oh, okay," Betty nodded.

The two entered the apartment and Betty turned to Daniel, "I'm going to get changed real quick."

"Take your time, we have about an hour before our reservation," Daniel assured her.

Betty headed off to Daniel's bedroom and ran over to her bags. She dug out a purple sweater dress, gray leggings, and black flats. Betty quickly changed and freshened up in the bathroom, quickly brushing her hair and applying a thin layer of makeup. She left the bathroom and found Daniel sitting on the couch, channel surfing. A smile was soon plastered on Daniel's face. Although he did love Betty's crazy pattern combinations, Daniel thought she looked even more beautiful in just a solid color. Purple no less.

"Are you ready?" Betty asked.

"Yeah, I just want to change my shirt. I'll be right back," Daniel said, still unable to take his eyes off of Betty. Daniel changed quickly and then drove them to Masa's.

Betty hadn't realized that the last time she had Japanese was when she first met Henry. It didn't bother her too much. It brought back the painful memories of Henry, but Betty sucked it up because she didn't want to ruin the night for Daniel. She wasn't sure if he had picked up on the little tidbit of information, but Betty didn't expect him to. _At that time, we weren't as close. So why would Daniel remember that my first unofficial date with Henry was at that sushi bar? _The two talked a bit here and there about work and other small talk topics. There wasn't awkwardness between them. It was just there wasn't much to talk about. Nothing exciting was happening at Mode and Betty had yet to start her first full week at Y.E.T.I.

That 'small' realization hit Daniel half way through dinner. He wasn't sure whether or not he should say something. Daniel watched Betty for a moment, she seemed to be in good spirits. He cleared his throat just enough to grab Betty's attention. She looked up from her plate, "Yes Daniel?"

"I'm sorry," he said vaguely.

"What?" Betty asked giving him a confused look.

Daniel looked down for a moment but then return his gaze at Betty, "I forgot that the first time you and Henry went out, it was to get sushi."

"You remembered that?" Betty asked astonished.

"Yeah," Daniel replied with a little embarrassment.

Betty smiled, "Thank you, Daniel."

"For what? I brought you to a restaurant that brought back bad feelings. I should have remembered…but…" Daniel said mentally kicking himself.

Daniel was about to continue kicking himself, but Betty stopped him, "Daniel, it's fine. I'm have a wonderful time, honestly I am. I haven't had sushi this good in forever. I said thank you because you remembered something so insignificant about me."

"Betty, it's not insignificant. I know you two were…really close," Daniel said, not wanting to say 'love'.

The night went on with a lighter mood. Both Daniel and Betty talked a lot more between course and through the meal itself. It was time for the check and when Daniel was about too reach for it, Betty placed her hand on top of his, "Daniel, I can't let you pay for this whole thing."

"No, no. Betty's it's fine. This was my treat," Daniel assured her.

"Can I at least do tip?" Betty bargained.

Before Daniel could answer Betty looked at the check. Her jaw dropped upon seeing the price per meal: $500. Times that by two, plus the cost of the bottle of wine Daniel ordered, and tax, the total check was flirting with the $1,200 mark.

"So, can I borrow some money to leave the tip?" Betty asked jokingly to try to ease the pain of seeing a bill that high.

"I've got it Betty, don't worry," Daniel said as he handed their waiter the bill with his MasterCard.

"Daniel, if I would have known that the meal was this expensive…we didn't have to go here," Betty stammered.

"Just think of it as a small payment for all the things I put you through these past couple of years," Daniel smiled.

"Small? Daniel that's huge!" Betty exclaimed.

Daniel shook his head, "No, there is no way to fully pay you back for all the things you've done for me."

"Aw, Daniel that's so sweet," Betty giggled.

--

The following day, both Daniel and Betty ended their workday earlier than usual. This was because they were headed off to Queens to visit Betty's family.

It was around five o'clock when Betty and Daniel arrived in his less out of place Mercedes. Hilda answered the door excitedly and hugged both Daniel and Betty. Justin came running down the steps and greeted the pair as well. Ignacio came out a minute later, apron clad with a towel in his hands. He walked over to Betty and hugged her, "It's good to see you _m'ija_."

Betty hugged her father back, "Good to see you too, papi."

Ignacio let go of Betty and then turned to Daniel. The two men shook hands, "It's good to see you again Daniel."

"It's great to see you too Mr. Suarez," Daniel replied warmly.

"Daniel please call me Ignacio," Ignacio coaxed him.

Daniel nodded. Ignacio headed back into the kitchen. Betty and Daniel filed into the living room with Hilda and Justin.

The entire Suarez family adored Daniel. None of them found any true fault with him. Ignacio had come to feel as though Daniel was like the son he didn't have and likewise for Daniel. Hilda loved Daniel for inadvertently bringing Betty out of her shell more and more. The eldest of the Suarez sisters had noticed the more time Betty spent with Daniel the more confidant she became. Hilda really appreciated Daniel for that.

"Aunt Betty, I can't wait to read your piece in this month's issue of Mode!" Justin said happily.

"Oh it's not thing big," Betty shrugged.

"Betty, you helped avoid a disaster with Adriana Lima and not to mention you got her to do a cover for Mode," Daniel praised.

"Betty you did all of that?" Hilda asked sounding proud.

Justin smiled, "Way to go Aunt Betty!"

Ignacio came into the living room and alerted everyone to the fact that dinner was ready. Hilda and Betty went into the kitchen and grabbed plates and silverware and then went into the dining room. Betty and Daniel set the table while Justin helped bring out the food from the kitchen. Hilda poured everyone a drink and a few moments later Ignacio came out and joined everyone at the table.

"Oh, papi what did you make?" Betty inquired.

"Enchiladas Verdes. I remembered Daniel really liked them the last time he was here," Ignacio said with a smile.

"Thanks, it looks wonderful," Daniel said gratefully.

They soon dug into the food. All of them enjoying Ignacio's wonderful cooking, especially Daniel. The same night the Suarez family found out Daniel really liked the Enchiladas, they also found Daniel doesn't have the stomach for overly spicy foods. It was a comical night that none of them let Daniel live down.

--

**I'm almost certain this is the longest chapter I've posted for this story. So horray for that. And I would like to thank mizgardenia21 for giving me the wonderful dictionary like explanation of m'ija. I'm not entirely sure if there will be another chapter posted this weekend or not. We shall see though. However, on a two side notes: 1. Enchiladas Verdes are amazing, 2. Masa is actually a restaurant in NYC and meals are actually $500 a pop. o,o' Yeah, thanks Google. **


	8. Chapter 8

Here's the latest chapter. Hope you enjoy it. It's going to have a Christmas-y theme to it. It's my Christmas gift to you! Although, there should be another chapter before Christmas, should being the key word here.

Disclaimer: Nothing!

--

A few days passed and Christmas day was only two weeks away. With this realization, Betty noticed that Daniel's apartment had absolutely no decorations out. She had already planned out how she was going to decorate her apartment the first week she moved in.

Betty sat at her desk and 10 am rolled around. She looked up and to see if Daniel needed anything. He didn't indicate that he did. However, Betty went into his office anyways.

Daniel was typing up some emails when Betty came in. He stopped typing and smiled, "Hey, Betty. What's up?"

Betty shrugged her shoulders casually, "Not much. But Daniel, I couldn't help but noticing you don't have decorations up for Christmas."

"Yes I do," Daniel said as he pointed to the small, faux Christmas tree in the corner of his office. It was sparely decorated with multi-color lights and a few glass balls that had 'MODE' printed on them in black and white.

"No, I mean in your apartment," Betty clarified.

"Oh I never decorate my apartment," Daniel said with a shrug.

"Why not?" Betty asked curiously.

"Mainly because I don't have anyone to celebrate Christmas with, so what's the point in decorating? My Mom always travels during Christmas and only last year did I find out that Alexis was still alive. I was going to decorate this year only so DJ could see what Christmas in the US was like. But, as you can see that didn't work out," Daniel sighed.

"Are you doing anything this year with your family?" Betty asked.

"Well, my Mom and Alexis are going to Aruba for two weeks," Daniel explained.

Betty nodded, "Why don't we get some decorations and we'll celebrate Christmas together."

"That'd be great, but I don't want to keep you away from you family," Daniel said sincerely. _No matter how much I want to spend time with her, I can't keep her away from her family. _Daniel sighed internally.

"You can come with me Daniel. My family loves you, so I doubt they'd have any objection to you coming over for Christmas," Betty said happily.

Daniel smiled, "Okay, sounds great. So does this mean you're going to be staying with me a little longer?"

"Sure, if that's okay with you," Betty replied.

"Of course, I love having you over," Daniel said happily.

--

Marc walked into Wilhelmina's office. She was sitting at her desk. She had that scheming look in her eyes. Marc squealed with delight, "Only you could be evilly scheming and still look so hot."

"Yes, I know," Wilhelmina smiled smugly.

Marc sat in the chair in front of the desk, "So, what's the evil plan Wily?"

"I have everything in place, I just can't think of a way to get it started," Wilhelmina sighed, frustrated.

"Can it involve me hitting on Connor, because gosh darn it, I will do it for the sake of evil!" Marc declared.

She shot Marc an unenthusiastic look, "I need a way to show Connor that video we have from the security tapes."

"Why not just show him?" Marc asked as if it were obvious.

"No, that's too easy. I want all of them to see, Connor, Daniel, and Molly," Wilhelmina said with a smirk.

"You know, you could 'accidentally' drop the tape onto that blabbering Suzuki St. Pierre's desk," Marc offered.

"Marc, I love you," Wilhelmina said with an evil smile as she got up from her desk.

"I know you're just saying that Wily, but still thank you," Marc replied as he followed Wilhelmina out of her office.

--

Daniel was packing up for the day. It was only 2:30 pm when Alexis walked in. Her hands placed firmly on her hips. "Daniel, are you leaving early again?!"

"Yeah? Why?" Daniel asked because he was in a hurry to meet Betty by the elevators.

"I get you're trying to impress her and stuff, but you can't let your work slip through the cracks," Alexis scolded.

"Who her?" Daniel asked, playing dumb.

"Don't give me that crap Daniel. You know whom I'm talking about. Betty!" Alexis huffed.

"How do you know?"

Alexis merely arched an eyebrow as Daniel rolled his eyes. "Mom," they said in unison.

A kinder expression fell on to Alexis's face as she walked over to him, "I understand you want her to realize that you love her, but there's a magazine that needs to be run. I'm on your side, its just there is work to be done."

"I know, thanks Alexis," Daniel said with a smile and hugged his sister.

"No problem, Danny-boy. She'll realize that you love her soon, don't worry," Alexis assured her brother.

Daniel said his goodbyes to his sister and left to find Betty. She was waiting for him by the elevators like she said she would. Daniel smiled. He walked over to her, "So, Christmas decorations?"

"Yep. And I called my Dad about you coming for Christmas. He's happy to hear you're coming," Betty informed him cheerily.

"Great," Daniel said gladly.

The two left Mode and headed for a variety of department stores. They picked the essentials, like stockings, decorations for the tree, and around the apartment. There was one thing they still needed to buy though, a tree.

Betty turned to Daniel while they were walking through one of the department stores, "So do you want a live tree or a fake one?"

"Probably a fake one, it'll be a lot easier than having to lug the thing all the way down to the curb the week after Christmas," Daniel said with a laugh.

"True," Betty agreed.

--

The two weeks flew by in about two seconds for Betty. The whole time she was still staying with Daniel. Partially because she still didn't want to see Jesse, but mainly because she just really liked being with Daniel. In that time, Betty had invited Christina to join her on Christmas with her, Daniel, and her family. Christina gratefully accepted.

It was early Christmas morning and Daniel snuck into his bedroom and over to his closet. He took out the gifts he had secretly bought for Betty, her family, and even Christina. Daniel quietly took all but one to his Mercedes. He headed back up to his apartment and flopped back down onto the couch. Daniel planned to stay up until Betty got up herself, but he soon fell back asleep.

Betty woke up and stretched out in Daniel's bed. Betty smiled, _I don't think I'll be able to sleep in my bed ever again._ She got out of bed and headed for the living room. Betty smiled upon seeing Daniel sleeping on the couch. She sat down next to him and shook his shoulder lightly, "Daniel? Wake up."

"Uhhhmmm," was all that came from Daniel.

Betty chuckled as she attempted to wake up Daniel again, "C'mon Daniel, wake up!"

"Go wake up Alex first, Mom," Daniel murmured through his sleep.

Betty thought for a moment, "Daniel, wake up! There's some strange woman in your bed!"

"What?!" Daniel asked in panic as he shot up from sleep.

"Merry Christmas, Daniel," Betty said through a fit of giggles.

"Oh…hi Betty, Merry Christmas to you too," Daniel yawned.

"Did I scare you?" Betty asked, still laughing a bit.

Daniel gave her a tired smile, "Yeah, a little. Oh, go under the tree, there's something for you."

"Daniel you didn't have to buy me anything," Betty sighed as she went over to the Christmas tree.

"I would have gotten you more, but I ran out of time," Daniel said as he headed over to the kitchen to make some coffee for himself and Betty.

Betty noticed a small blue, satin box that sat underneath the tree. She knew the box well. It usually contained a Tiffany & Co. necklace for some girl Daniel had a one nightstand with. Betty laughed, _he must have a VIP account to get this so fast. _She undid the red ribbon that held the box closed. Tossing it aside, she lifted the lid of off the box and removed the tissue paper that concealed the gift. Betty smiled upon seeing the gift. It was a necklace; the chain was sterling sliver with three red crystal stars. Two of the stars were smaller than the one in the middle. The stars were rounded and curvy and looked as though there was glitter within the stars, but it was just the reflective nature of the crystal. Underneath the necklace was a matching bracelet as well. There were three stars on the bracelet, however, the middle star was clear whereas the other two were red.

The necklace and bracelet was perfect for Betty, kind of quirky, but still beautiful. It wasn't covered in diamonds or precious gems-things Betty wasn't crazy over, so they suited her flawlessly. Well, that's how Daniel saw it while on the Tiffany & Co. website.

Daniel walked to Betty and sat down next to her on the floor. Betty soon attacked Daniel with a hug, "Thank you so much Daniel!"

"I'm guessing you like them then?" Daniel asked through the hug, almost falling over.

"Yes, but you really didn't have to get me anything," Betty reiterated as she let go of Daniel.

"Well, like I said, I would have gotten you more," Daniel shrugged.

"No, no. This is just perfect. I hope you didn't spend too much money on this," Betty said.

Daniel shook his head, "Don't worry about it Betty. You deserve it."

"Thanks," she replied with a smile as she leaned in to hug him again.

"No problem," Daniel replied as he hugged her. He placed a light kiss on top of Betty's head before letting go of her, "Do you want some coffee?"

"Yeah, that'd be great," Betty said gratefully.

Daniel got off the floor and went into the kitchen to get Betty a cup of coffee. While he was in the kitchen, Betty placed her hand onto the spot where Daniel kissed her head. She smiled, letting her hand linger on the spot for a moment longer.

Daniel handed Betty her coffee. Betty took a sip before handing it back to him, "I'll be right back!"

Betty ran back into Daniel's room and found her bag. She pulled out the gift she bought for Daniel. Returning back to the living room, she presented the gift to Daniel. He took it gratefully, "Oh, Betty you didn't need to buy me anything."

"I said the same to you," Betty said as she took the two coffee cups from Daniel so he could open the gift.

He torn off the wrapping paper and opened the box. It was a tie, but more specifically it was the same tie Daniel had been eyeing in the Mode closet for the past three weeks. Daniel smiled, "How did you know?"

"I saw you staring at it when I was talking to Christina a week ago," Betty explained.

"Thanks Betty, you're the greatest!" Daniel exclaimed.

Both Betty and Daniel got dressed and made breakfast. Until, they were to leave the pair lazed around Daniel's apartment. They watched a variety of Christmas specials and of course catching one of the shows of the twenty-four hour showing of "A Christmas Story". Two thirty rolled around and it was time for Betty and Daniel to leave.

Betty was wearing the necklace and bracelet from Daniel. Likewise, for Daniel, he was wearing the tie from Betty. As they walked out of Daniel's apartment, Betty turned to him, "I need to stop at my apartment before we pick Christina."

"Okay, for what?" Daniel asked as they walked into the garage and to his Mercedes.

"The Christmas presents for my family," Betty said.

Daniel nodded as they got into the car. Daniel drove to Betty's apartment building. He was about to get out of the car when Betty stopped him, "You don't have to get out, I'll be right back."

"Okay."

Betty ran up the five flights of steps, well ran up the first two. She reached the fifth floor and started walking down the hallway. She soon spotted Jesse coming out of his apartment. He gave her a weak smile, "Hi Betty."

"Hello, Jesse," she replied monotonously.

"Betty, I'm sorry," Jesse began.

"Jesse, just stop," Betty said as she unlocked her door.

"Betty I want another chance. I really like you and I know you like me," he continued, somewhat following her into her apartment.

"I did like you," Betty corrected, "I've…found someone else." _Well sort of. _

"Who? You can't mean Daniel," Jesse asked in disbelief.

Betty just sighed, "Jesse I have to go. Have a good Christmas."

Betty closed the door on him. She rounded up the presents and was about to leave her apartment. She stood by her door, hoping that Jesse left. He did. Betty let out a sigh of relief and headed down to the lobby and to Daniel's car. Sticking the gifts in the back of Daniel's Mercedes, Betty got into his car.

They drove to Christina's apartment and picked her up as well. They were then off to the Suarez's house. Betty helped Christina waddle up the steps while Daniel took all of the gifts inside.

Ignacio came into the living room, followed by Hilda and Justin. Ignacio walked over to Betty and hugged her, "Hello, m'ija."

"Hi papi, Merry Christmas," Betty said happily.

Ignacio went over to Christina, "Christina, it's good to see you again."

"You too Mr. Suarez," Christina said cheerily.

Ignacio then turned to Daniel, "Daniel, how are you?"

"Great. And you?" Daniel asked.

"Wonderful," Ignacio said as he took Daniel into a manly hug.

Everyone congregated into the dining room and kitchen. Both Betty and Hilda helping Ignacio in the kitchen. While the Suarez sisters helped their father cook, Justin was having a field day talking to Christina and Daniel.

Ignacio left the kitchen for a moment. Hilda smiled, "So, how are you _and _Daniel doing?"

"What do you mean?" Betty asked.

"You know. You and Daniel…living together and all," Hilda continued.

Betty just rolled her eyes, "We're not 'living together'. I'm just staying with him for a little while."

"Oh c'mon on Betty! Every time I see you two, you guys look like such a couple. It's ridiculous almost! And you always look so happy around him," Hilda grinned.

"Hilda, you know me. I'm usually happy most of the time," Betty retorted.

"But, you're exceptionally happy when you're around Daniel. You get this look you would get whenever you were around Henry an…" Hilda quickly covered her mouth, "I'm sorry Betty."

"No, no, it's fine. What were you going to say?" Betty asked.

"I'm just saying that I haven't seen you this happy since…in a while," Hilda said, giving her sister a small smile.

"Hilda, I've always been happy," Betty continued.

"Yeah, but you haven't been this happy with a guy," Hilda replied as she placed a hand on Betty's shoulder, "Just, don't be blind to what's in front of you."

"Okay?" Betty said as she followed Hilda out to the dining room with food in her hands.

Everyone sat around the table and ate. Dinner was over within the hour, everyone praising Ignacio's cooking. He modestly accepted the compliments. After the dishes were washed and put away, everyone gathered in the living room.

Betty distributed her gifts to everyone. Then came Ignacio and Hilda's gifts, they even bought a little something for both Daniel and Christina. Christina handed out gifts as well, all of it coming from the Mode closet. Everything was considered 'out of season', but no one actually knew that it was.

"You guys didn't have to buy me anything," Daniel said gratefully.

"It was not problem Daniel, you're practically family anyway," Ignacio said with a smile.

Daniel smiled as he got up to grab the presents he brought with him, "Well, I have some gifts for you all too. I would have gotten more, but I sort of ran out of time."

"You didn't need to do that Daniel," Betty said.

"It wasn't a problem," Daniel replied with a smile.

He handed everyone their gifts, each gift tailored to each person. Once everyone was done opening the gifts, Betty took Daniel aside. They went out to where Hilda's salon was.

"What's up Betty?" Daniel asked.

"Thank you," she said.

"You're welcome?" Daniel replied.

"You honestly didn't have to do all of this," Betty clarified, "For my family, Christina, or me."

Daniel just smiled, "Betty, your family is like my family, since my actual family is a little…odd. So doing this was no big deal."

Betty smiled and hugged Daniel. They didn't release each other for a moment, but once they did Betty looked up to Daniel and smiled again. But then her stare moved to what was hanging over the two of them. Mistletoe. Betty chuckled quietly and looked down quickly, hoping Daniel wouldn't see. But he did see it and his cheeks became a light pink. Of all the ways Daniel hoped their first kiss would be, this wasn't it. _This is too cheesy and cliché, _Daniel sighed internally.

"Hilda probably put it up there," Betty stated.

"Oh," was the only word Daniel could form.

Daniel leaned in closer to Betty, not knowing what to do. He felt like he was thirteen years old again, his heart was racing. Betty leaned a bit closer to him. Daniel brushed his lips against Betty's. To Daniel's surprise, Betty pushed her lips against his. Never in Daniel's life did he not know what to do when a woman kissed him. But, this woman wasn't jus any woman, this was Betty. But the least he could do was return the kiss. And he did. The kiss lasted a moment longer and the two broke away.

Whether the pair knew it or not, both Hilda and Christina were watching them. Both had a large smile on their faces.

--

**Yes I know the mistletoe is cheesy and cliché, Daniel already stated that. But I always felt that in some sort of way, Betty and Daniel would sometimes be that cheesy couple. And if anyone feels compelled to own Betty's necklace and bracelet, I did base both of them off ones on the website. Just go to 'gifts for her' and changed the gemstone drop down box to 'colored gemstones' and price range to '$250-$500' and they will be the items with the green stars. So, if I don't get another chapter up before the holidays, have a good one!**


	9. Chapter 9

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday! Here's the latest chapter, enjoy!

Disclaimer: No, I didn't get the rights to Ugly Betty for Christmas. :(

--

The New Year had come and gone and all of the Modies were back to working on their first issue of the New Year. Betty had moved back into her apartment right after Christmas day, neither she nor Daniel talked about the kiss. Daniel was dieing to say something to Betty about it, but the was another force at hand stopping him. It was the release of the security tape of him and Molly. Nothing was better that new gossip to start off the New Year as far as Suzuki St. Pierre was concerned.

Daniel watched as the video was shown on the television screen. He unknowingly was clenching his fist as Suzuki reappeared on the screen.

"You heard it here, a steamy meeting between Mode, Editor-in-chief Daniel Meade, and the fiancée of Mode's senior financial advisor Connor Owens, Molly O'Hare," Suzuki continued.

Daniel watched as Suzuki brought up possible meanings of their encounter, but Daniel was too annoyed to watch it. He shut the TV off and went to his desk and looked at his computer screen. Hoping that there wasn't an IM from Betty inquiring about the video. To Daniel's surprise and relief there wasn't.

Betty didn't have time to be watching TV. She had been dragged into the deepest part of the Mode closet so she and Christina could talk finally about the kiss.

"I'm telling you Christina, it meant nothing!" Betty sighed frustrated.

"Oh yes it does! I saw you, you kissed Daniel!" Christina shouted.

Betty put her hands on her hips, "I did not!"

"You did too! Daniel went in to kiss you, but you're the one that actually started the kiss!" Christina continued excitedly.

"Okay, so what if I did? It's not like we're going to run off into the sunset or anything!" Betty sighed.

"Did you feel anything?" Christina asked.

"What?"

"You know, that feeling. The one that makes you feel all tingly inside and the only thing you can feel is happiness," Christina explained.

Betty thought for a moment, "I guess."

"You guess?" Christina asked raising an eyebrow.

"I've always had feelings for Daniel," Betty explained.

"What kind of feelings?" Christina asked with a surprised look.

"Not like that," Betty retorted.

Christina gave her an unconvinced look, "Betty, you honestly don't have any of those kinds of feelings for Daniel?"

"No…I don't know," Betty sighed, frustrated.

Christina smiled, "You love him!"

"What? I do not."

"You do too," Christina continued, "Betty, I've seen the way you look at him."

"Alright, alright. I've heard this from both you and Hilda. What are you two seeing that I'm not?" Betty asked.

"You don't feel any different when you're around him?"

"I generally feel good…happy I guess around him. He usually puts me in a great mood and he makes me smile and laugh…and…I love him," Betty finally said, everything she had ever felt for Daniel hitting her all at once.

"I told you," Christina said with a smile.

Betty smiled, "I have to tell him."

"Go! Run!" Christina cheered.

Betty started for the exit of the Mode closet when her phone rang. It was Justin. Panic was the new emotion that was running through Betty's body now.

"Justin?" Betty asked quickly.

"Hi, Aunt Betty. Before you ask, everyone's fine. Just turn the TV on," Justin told her calmly.

"Justin, what are you talking about?" Betty asked.

"Just do it, Aunt Betty," Justin replied and hung up.

"What's up?" Christina asked.

"Justin told me to turn the TV on," Betty stated, confused.

Christina shrugged as she turned the TV on, "Did he say what to look for?"

"No," Betty said, shaking her head.

The two women watched for a moment, the finally saw Suzuki St. Pierre appear on the screen.

"If you missed it earlier, here's the footage of Mode's very own Daniel Meade and their senior financial advisor's fiancée, Molly O'Hare."

The clip was shown. Both Betty and Christina stared at the screen in disbelief.

"Looks like Daniel Meade can't even keep his nose clean for the first week of the New Year."

"It's probably nothing," Christina said hopefully.

"Right," Betty said bitterly as she walked out of Mode closet.

"Betty, just go talk to him!" Christina called.

--

Daniel sat in his office when he saw Connor coming around the corner, anger was written all over his face. Daniel quickly stood up and went around to the front of his desk. Connor came right into Daniel's office, he stood right in front of Daniel for a moment. Connor's face was red with anger and frustration.

"You saw the tape?" Daniel asked even though it was unnecessary.

"Yes, I did." Connor replied quickly, "Wilhelmina showed me."

"Of course she did," Daniel huffed.

"Was this the only time?" Connor demanded.

Daniel nodded, "Yes, it was. If you're going to be angry with anyone, be angry with me not Molly."

"I can't do that," Connor said, "I can't trust her any more."

"Yes, you can. This was the only time and it was only a kiss. Yes, I did like Molly for a while, but there's someone else. And I love her," Daniel explained.

Connor nodded slowly, "I think Wilhelmina was intending that this fiasco to break our contract up."

"I'm not surprised," Daniel sighed.

"I think we should play along," Connor mused.

"Really?"

"Yeah," Connor said.

"Uh, alright what are you-" Daniel was cut off by Connor's fist hitting him square in the cheek. It wasn't enough to break bone, but it hurt like hell.

Daniel stumbled backwards, holding his face, "Really the face?!"

"Yeah."

Connor left Daniel's office, with all the Modies surrounding the area and one of them was Betty. She quickly ran into Daniel's office. Even though her heart ached to see Daniel and Molly together, she stilled loved him and was compelled to help him.

"Oh my God, Daniel are you alright?!" Betty asked concerned.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm alright," Daniel assured her as the two sat down on the couch.

Betty gave him a confused look, "What happened?"

"Nothing, Connor and I talked and we're good," Daniel said simply.

"But I saw Connor hit you," Betty retorted as she got a better look at Daniel's face.

Daniel leaned in a bit closer, just in case, "We think Wilhelmina is trying to break up the contract between Connor and I."

"So you're just playing along?" Betty pieced together.

Daniel smiled slyly, "Yeah."

Betty just rolled her eyes, amused by Daniel's antics. Daniel chuckled, but soon became serious. He stared into her eyes intently, "It was just a kiss."

"I know, Hilda always puts Mistletoe up somewhere in my dad's house," Betty half joked.

"No, I meant between Molly and I," Daniel clarified a bit more, still staring into her eyes.

Betty's breath was hitched in her throat, "Oh…okay."

"But this," Daniel paused and placed a light kiss on Betty's lip, which she returned, "isn't just a kiss."

"Daniel," Betty gasped, "then what is it?"

"Betty, I love you."

--

Yeah, cliffhanger. I know. Sorry. It'll make you come back for the next chapter though! I want to apologize for not getting this up sooner!


	10. Chapter 10

Here's the next exciting chapter! Thanks for all the reviews! Again, sorry about the cliffhanger. ;D Enjoy the next chapter!

Disclaimer: Still nothing!

--

"Betty, please say something," Daniel practically begged. She hadn't said anything in over two minutes.

"I…I…are you sure?" Betty asked, still dumbfounded.

Daniel looked at Betty as if she were crazy, "Of course I am! Betty, I love you."

Betty nibbled on her lip as she repeated Daniel's words over and over in her head. _"Betty, I love you." _ She looked at him. She could see the honesty and pureness in his eyes. Betty could tell he wasn't lying. She knew the look all too well to know when Daniel was lying, but right now he wasn't.

"I…don't know what to say," Betty admitted. Other guys had said they loved her and she had a response right away for them, but not Daniel. _It's true, I do love him, but I don't know if I can say it. "Betty, I love you."_

Daniel was becoming agitated because he was sure he told Betty too soon. He sighed in defeat, "I know…it's so sudden and maybe even too soon after Henry and possible even Jesse. But, if you don't feel the same way, please just tell me so I'm not kidding myself any longer."

"It's not too soon, Daniel," Betty finally said, "and you're not kidding yourself."

Daniel's eyes were full of hopefulness.

"I…I…" Betty paused, still trying to work up the nerve to say what needed and had to be said, "I love you too, Daniel."

Daniel smiled from ear to ear. He leaned in and captured Betty's lips in a kiss. It was long, passionate, and loving. Daniel didn't give a damn who was watching and neither did Betty. No one was watching them, oddly enough. Betty returned Daniel's kiss with one of her own, just as long, passionate, and loving.

They continued to kiss a moment more, before Betty broke the kiss, "I have to get back to work."

"Okay," Daniel replied as he kissed her cheek.

Betty got off the couch and walked towards her desk.

"Betty?"

"Yeah?"

"Move in with me," Daniel said with a smile.

"Daniel, I'm already living with you," Betty returned. This was the first time Betty ever referred to staying with Daniel as "living with him".

"No, you're staying with me. I want you to move in with me," Daniel clarified for her.

Betty gave him a strange look, "Don't you think we're rushing it?"

"Betty, we just told each other we love each other and we haven't even been on an official date, I think we've skipped the conventional couple thing," Daniel joked.

Betty chuckled, "You've got me there, but I just signed that lease on my apartment for a year."

"Let Christina stay there," Daniel suggested.

"Daniel, she's seven months pregnant, she's not climbing five flights of stairs," Betty pointed out, "Plus Amanda is there."

"Well, whatever we'll figure something out. Please, Betty, just consider it?" Daniel asked.

"Okay, fine," Betty agreed.

"Great," Daniel replied with a smile.

Betty went off to her desk and sat down. She began to work when an IM box popped up. It was Daniel.

DMeade: Have you made a decision yet? :)

BSaurez: No, not yet Daniel. I just sat down, geez.

DMeade: Haha, ok. Sorry, I couldn't resist.

BSaurez: Sure. ;)

Betty looked up from her computer screen and looked to Daniel's office. He looked at her and smiled. She rolled her eyes as she smiled back.

BSaurez: Well, Mr. Meade I have to get back to work or my boss will freak. He's so short tempered sometimes. :D

DMeade: I know he's such a pain in the ass, but so good looking at the same time. :)

BSaurez: I know tell me about it, haha.

Betty looked up once more. She was immediately met with a smile from Daniel. Betty could see him laughing. Chuckling, Betty sent one more IM.

BSaurez: But seriously Daniel, I'll let you know at lunch okay?

DMeade: Yeah, thanks Betty. 3

Betty closed the IM box and then started up working again. She finished sooner than she thought. She just had to type up random emails to send out and set up a few appointments, and then she was done. Betty let out a content sigh. She then took out her laptop to work on a project for Y.E.T.I.

Some how, Betty was about to work for an hour on her project with no problem whatsoever. She was to design an article about New York City, from the article itself to the photography. Betty would admit, she had an unfair advantage with her the crazy adventure she and Amanda went on for the online edition of Mode.

Betty looked at the time on her laptop, it was 12:23 pm, she goes to lunch in less than seven minute and she had not thought about Daniel's offer. She quickly saved and shut down Word and then her laptop. Betty leaned back into her chair, as she watched Daniel in his office busily working. He was very concentrated on whatever he was working on. Betty smiled. _I could wake up everyday to that face and go to sleep seeing that face. _

Betty became lost in her thoughts about all the wonderful things that would happen if she and Daniel lived together. In a flash, those seven minutes were gone and Daniel was standing in front of Betty's desk.

"Betty?" he called.

"Hm?" Betty asked without even looking up.

"Are you ready for lunch?" Daniel asked.

Betty looked up, "Oh Daniel, yeah I'm ready."

Daniel smiled, "Is there anything else you're ready for?"

"Yeah there is," Betty smiled, "you're going to have to clear out your closet some for my clothes."

"I think I can do that," Daniel smiled as he leaned in to kiss her.

Betty reciprocated the kiss and deepened it a little more.

--

The day at Mode was over. Everyone had left but Daniel and Betty. They were walking out to the garage. She turned to him as she got into his Ferrari and gave him a quick kiss on the lips, "Let's go."

They drove off to Betty's apartment. Climbing the five flights of stairs, Betty opened the door to her apartment. Going to her bedroom Betty picked up the boxes that were still there from when she first moved in. Betty began to pile all of her personal belongings into the boxes. In a matter of minutes, one was already filled. Forty-five minutes passed and Betty had all of her personal belongings that were the most important to her packed up.

Betty wrote Amanda a note explaining that she was moving out, but she didn't explain why. However, she assured Amanda that she'd continue to pay her portion of the rent. Betty also wrote that she fed Halston before leaving.

Closing the door to the apartment, Betty saw Jesse coming out of his apartment. He gave her a puzzled look when he saw the box in Betty's hands.

"What's going on, Betty? You're not moving out are you?" Jesse asked casually.

"I am, actually. But don't worry Amanda's still here," Betty replied.

Daniel walked up to the two. He wrapped his arm around Betty's waist just to rub it in Jesse's face. Daniel placed a small kiss on Betty's cheek, "Are you ready to go?"

"Yeah," Betty replied, feeling slightly sorry for Jesse.

The two walked down the hallway headed for the stairs leaving Jesse standing in the hallway, in shock.

--

I don't think Betty and Daniel had to do the conventional couple thing because they're already so close. So, having Betty move in was the next step for them I think.

Please send me love through reviews!


	11. Chapter 11

I want to thank all of you that reviewed! It really does mean a lot to me as a writer to have my work so well praised. ;D Anyway, here's the latest chapter, I hope you enjoy it! Sorry this is so late; I had a little bit of writer's block.

Disclaimer: Still nothing!

--

Betty and Daniel stood in their bedroom. They had just finished unpacking Betty's things. She turned to him, smiling, "I'm so glad we don't have to go into work tomorrow."

"Me too," Daniel agreed.

They were both exhausted from unpacking. Daniel had made sure everything Betty brought with her found a home and that it was no longer Daniel's space and Betty's space, it was their space.

Betty yawned as she flopped down on the bed, followed by Daniel. She turned on her side to face him, "You know it's going to be hard for us to be a couple at work."

"Yeah, but I don't care," Daniel replied without a care in the world, "Plus, I'm Editor-in-Chief."

"That's exactly my point Daniel. You're Editor-in-Chief and I'm just the assistant," Betty pointed out, being more realistic.

"You're not worried about what people might say are you?" Daniel asked, in shock.

Betty was quiet for a bit, "Just a little."

"But you're Betty, you don't care about what people think. You're the well adjusted one, unlike the rest of us," Daniel mused, "where we all care about what people say or think of us."

"I'm not _that _well adjusted Daniel," Betty sighed, "I just want to stay in our little bubble, and where our relationship won't be the next big thing Suzuki St. Pierre is talking about."

"Well, my family's always in the media at least this time it's nothing 'scandalous'," Daniel half joked.

Betty chuckled, "True."

Daniel pulled her closer to him, holding her in his arms. Betty rested her head on his shoulder. All of it felt so natural, like they had been together for years. Daniel placed a light kiss on Betty's lips. She returned it as she snuggled against him more.

"Mmm, I'm tired," she mumbled.

"Me too," Daniel whispered as he leaned his head on top of Betty's.

"You need to throw away the _magazines_ tomorrow," Betty said as her eyes became heavy with sleep.

Daniel chuckled, "I will."

The following morning Betty awoke to the sounds of rain hitting the glass of the tall windows. She looked over to the clock on the end table it read 8:25am. Betty then turned her head to see Daniel peacefully sleeping next to her, his arms still lovingly wrapped around her.

She pulled herself from Daniel's embrace and placed a light kiss on his cheek. Betty was still in her clothes from the day before, but they were now wrinkled and messy. Walking over to the closet, Betty pulled out a pair of jeans and a light blue, low cow neck sweater out. She went into the bathroom to change and wash up.

Daniel woke up to the sounds coming from the bathroom. Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, Daniel sat up. He yawned and stretched as he pulled himself from the warm bed.

Betty reappeared from the bathroom a few minutes later, where she found Daniel missing from the bedroom. She shrugged it off as she headed for the kitchen to make breakfast. As Betty began pulling the pots and pans needed for cooking, Daniel came back into the apartment.

"Where were you?" Betty asked as she cracked a few eggs into a bowl.

"Throwing out the _magazines_," Daniel replied.

Betty laughed, "What do you want in your omelet?"

"Whatever. Do you need help?" Daniel asked as he began to make the coffee.

"You cook?" Betty asked, quite surprised.

"Well, if you count not burning the food cooking, then sure," Daniel joked.

"I count that as cooking," Betty laughed, "Could you cut up some of those peppers in the fridge?"

"Yeah," Daniel said as he walked over to the fridge and opened the door to get the peppers.

Daniel washed and began to cut the peppers. He stopped for a moment and took a side-glance at Betty. She was busy cooking and humming a soft tune. Daniel smiled, "So, when are we going to tell them?"

"Who?"

"You know, everyone. Your dad, my mom, our sisters, Justin, and Christina…you know, everyone," Daniel clarified.

Betty chuckled, "Oh…whenever. Like you said, we're not the conventional couple. So, it's not like we have to have a first date and then freak out about meeting each other's family and all. Although, Christina and Hilda were both pretty convinced there was something between us before."

"Yeah, my mom and sister were the same way," Daniel said as he finished up cutting the peppers. He put them into a bowl and handed them to Betty, who put them into the pan to cook for a bit before putting them in with the egg, "Do you want to go on a 'first date'?"

Daniel wrapped his around Betty's waist, she thought for a moment, "We don't have to but we can if you want."

"I think it would be fun, let's do something today," Daniel replied happily as he rested his head on hers.

"Like?" Betty asked, chuckling at Daniel's excitement.

"I don't know…it's just, Betty you have no idea how long I've wanted this," Daniel sighed, "it's just so surreal for me now."

Betty smiled at the genuineness in his words, "Why don't we go to the movies or something. It's a classic first date."

"Okay," Daniel agreed as he kissed the side of her neck.

Betty turned to him, still in his arms, and kissed Daniel. It was intended to be quick, but sweet, however, Daniel continued it more. Betty kept their kiss going by deepening it a little more, which got a response from Daniel. He pushed them up against the island in the kitchen. Betty's free hands wrapped themselves around Daniel's hips and lower back. Daniel began to play with a belt loop on Betty's jeans as he went from kissing Betty's soft lips to the crook of her neck. Betty began to place small butterfly kisses on Daniel's cheek and jaw line and would have continued if it were not for the smoke alarm going off.

Both Daniel and Betty nearly jumped out of their skin upon hearing the little alarm's wailing. They quickly let go of one another. Betty ran to the stove to shut the gas off while Daniel frantically looked for something to fan the smoke alarm. He finally had to grab a pile of computer paper and began to fan the smoke away from the detector.

They were now left with peppers that were burnt to a crisp and four raw eggs sitting in a glass bowl.

Betty looked at Daniel, who was still fanning the alarm, and began to laugh. Daniel followed suit. In a matter of seconds, the two were in hysterics. Betty walked over to Daniel and wrapped her arms around him, _What a story to tell our family one-day…_

Embracing Betty and through a couple of chuckles Daniel sighed, "I our first date should be us going out for breakfast."

"I think so too," Betty concurred, still chuckling.

--

This chapter was basically for cute Detty fluff. I hate to say it, but their relationship is going to be tested within the next chapter or two. So enjoy the fluff! Send the love or now hate through reviews, please. :)


	12. Chapter 12

I really liked this past episode (1/22), but the Daniel/Molly thing is killing me, haha. I'm changing up the time line a bit from the show. Just an fyi.

Disclaimer: Still nothing.

--

Daniel and Betty were sitting at a small café somewhere in midtown. They sat side-by-side enjoying the slow pace of their day instead of the fast-paced New York City rush. Fingers laced together, each of them sipping their coffee every now and again.

Betty's cell phone went off, it was Hilda.

"Hey Hilda," Betty greeted gleefully.

"Betty…" Hilda began. Betty's ridiculous smile that was plastered on her face since the previous night was suddenly gone. She could hear the fear and anguish in her sister's voice and sirens in the background.

"Hilda, what is it?" Betty asked so low that Daniel could barely hear her.

"Papi…had a heart attack," Hilda said, her words almost inaudible between her sobs and the sirens of the ambulance.

Betty lost all the color in her face. She surely was going to be sick or faint. Betty latched onto Daniel's arm in fear of falling out of her seat, "What? When?"

Daniel watched as the love of his life, his soul mate cried helplessly into her phone. He did the only thing he could think of that could help her at this moment. Daniel held onto Betty's hand, not letting go for a moment.

"Just now…I was working…and…it just happened…" Hilda wept.

Betty began to cry uncontrollably, "Where are you going?"

"Uh…St. Mary's I think," Hilda said, her voice cracking.

"Okay…okay…I'll…we'll be right there," Betty assured her sister.

"Betty, please hurry," Hilda begged.

"I will," Betty replied and soon hung up. She wiped away the hot tears that still continued to stream out of her eyes. Betty turned to Daniel. He gave her a sorrowful look, "Where are we going?"

"St. Mary's Hospital," Betty sniffled as she wiped away more tears.

"Okay, let's go," Daniel said as he stood up.

"Don't you want to know why?" Betty asked, still chocked up.

Daniel cupped Betty's face with his free hand, "Betty, your family is sick, which means my family is sick. It doesn't matter what's wrong, I'll always be there to help you help them."

Betty smiled a little, "Thank you, Daniel."

The two left the café, not without hassle from the waitress of course. Daniel just handed her a fifty and they left. They hopped into the Ferrari and sped over to Queens and to the hospital.

Upon arrival, Betty bolted out of the Ferrari before Daniel even put the car into park.

She ran to the front desk in the ER and was soon told to go to the Cardio wing. Poor Daniel was always a good ten feet behind Betty until he found her with Hilda and Justin in the waiting room. He cautiously approached the three.

"How is he?" Betty asked frantically.

"He's in surgery now," Hilda replied with a discontented sigh.

Betty nodded, "For what?"

"A quadruple by-pass," Hilda said, her eyes tearing up.

Four hours passed and no word came to Suarez family and Daniel about Ignacio's condition. They each took turns waiting to hear from anyone about Ignacio. Betty and Daniel were waiting together while Justin and Hilda were in the cafeteria getting a bite to eat.

Daniel and Betty sat hand in hand, in the waiting room. Neither one speaking. Daniel played with the faux sapphire ring on Betty's right hand while she stared out into the waiting room with her puffy, red eyes. She turned to him, "You don't have to be here. I know the hospital is your least favorite place."

"I won't leave you here by yourself, Betty," Daniel replied simply.

Betty smiled weakly and let out a bitter laugh, "I was hoping that the next time I'd be in a hospital would be for Christina."

"My mom is on the board of a hospital in Manhattan, I could see if she could find someone to do follow for your dad," Daniel offered.

"Daniel…I couldn't ask your mom for something like that…especially if he…" Betty chocked out.

"Betty, you can't think like that. Your dad is a fighter," Daniel just about scolded her.

Betty nodded, "Will you call your mom then?"

"I'll call her now," Daniel said as he pulled out his cell phone.

Ignacio came out of surgery fine. However, he was still unconscious. Betty and Hilda took shifts to be with Ignacio until he woke up. Daniel had called Claire and made arrangements for Ignacio to see the head of Cardio.

--

Betty had missed nearly three weeks of work now. Daniel somehow managed to work without an assistant for those three weeks. Alexis tried to convince him to get a temp to fill in for Betty. However, Daniel would have nothing to do with it. He just watched and tried to handle all the work Betty did, plus his own. Daniel soon realized Betty's job was possibly harder than his. _She is definitely getting a pay raise. _He still couldn't quite figure out what Betty did to his bagel and coffee every morning but he just couldn't get it right. Daniel began sorting his mail, _Maybe I'll try two sugars and one creamer tomorrow._

Betty was at the hospital today. She sat at Ignacio's bedside, holding his hand. Giving him a faint smile, "Papi, I've been wanting to tell you so much lately. About work, Y.E.T.I., and Daniel."

Betty paused, "Of those three, Daniel is probably on the top of the list. Papi, I love him. I want to be with him. Well, I'm already with him…we're living together now. We love each other a lot, papi."

"I knew…he…was the one…for…you m'ija," Ignacio's dry voice whispered as his eyes slowly opened, adjusting to the light.

"Papi?!" Betty gasped.

"I could really use some water and a chili dog with some fries," Ignacio said, completely serious.

Betty let out a elated chuckle as she poured some water into a cup, "We're going to have change your diet a bit papi."

"That's unfortunate," Ignacio joked as he took a sip of the water.

Joyous tears flowed from Betty's eyes, "How are you feeling, papi?"

"Pretty good," Ignacio replied, "So, when am I getting grandkids from you two?"

"Let's take care of you first," Betty laughed as she wiped the tears from her eyes.

Betty took out her cell phone and called Hilda and Daniel. Both of them rushed to the hospital as fast as they could. Hilda, Justin, and Daniel walked into the room and found Ignacio and Betty talking and laughing.

"Oh papi!!" Hilda cried. She ran over to Ignacio and hugged him. As did Justin. Followed by Daniel. Ignacio gave Daniel a big smile followed by looking over to Betty. Ignacio nodded approvingly as he shook Daniel's hand. Daniel understood and mouthed 'Thank you' to Ignacio.

The following day Ignacio was able to go home. His daughters and Justin catered to him for ever whim. Daniel barely saw Betty for that week as well. The only time they saw one another was to crash in bed. But, by week five, Betty was back at Mode. Surprisingly, Betty found most of her work done, by Daniel no less.

"I can't believe you did all of this," Betty said, genuinely shocked.

Daniel shrugged, "I know you would do the same for me."

"Thank you, Daniel," Betty said as kissed him.

Daniel went in to deepen it, but Betty stopped him. He gave her a disappointed look. Betty chuckled, "Not here, Daniel."

"You'll be home tonight, right?" Daniel asked.

"Yeah, why?" Betty asked.

"Because, I haven't been able to really kiss since we almost burnt down my apartment," Daniel replied.

"What? Yes, we have," Betty retorted.

"Okay, I just miss you. How about that?" Daniel asked with a chuckle.

"Better," Betty giggled.

"Can you go out for lunch today?" Daniel asked.

Betty sighed, "No, sorry. It's my first day back and there is still a ton of work to do."

"Okay," Daniel nodded.

Lunchtime rolled around and Daniel said goodbye to Betty with a quick peck on the cheek. Betty diligently worked when a small blond came up to her desk.

"Excuse me, is Daniel Meade here?" the blond asked.

Betty looked, "Oh…Molly…he's out to lunch."

"You're his assistant aren't you?" Molly asked.

"Yes, why?" Betty asked suspiciously.

Molly looked around before answering, "Can you just tell him that I need to meet him again some time this week."

"Um…sure," Betty coughed out as her stomach sank.

"Thanks," Molly said and soon left.

--

I know…slight cliffhanger. Sorry. Reviews are always welcomed!


	13. Chapter 13

I can't believe this story has topped one hundred reviews! I want to thank all of you who have reviewed! It truly means a lot to me! Here's the latest chapter I hope you enjoy it.

Disclaimer: Nothing!

--

Daniel and Connor sat in a secluded area of the Mode cafeteria. Both men were being very careful not to speak too loudly and not to be seen together.

"I was just at Wilhelmina's office and she told me she's trying to get you to reject the next ad proposal," Connor explained through bits of his salad.

Daniel gave him a puzzled look, "How? She usually just one-ups me at the meetings anyway."

"Since we're no longer friends, she assumes that you'll just reject anything I agree with," Connor clarified.

"Well, I'll just not reject it. How about that?" Daniel asked as if it were nothing.

"It's not that simple," Connor sighed dejectedly.

"I'm not surprised," Daniel replied. _I never really am anymore._

"She wants to give the ad space to the highest bidder."

"What?! That's insane!" Daniel grumbled.

"I know…that's why Wilhelmina's doing it," Connor said matter-of-factly.

Daniel ran his hands over his face and sighed, "I'll just have to go with it."

"What? No, mate. That's a bad, bad choice," Connor scolded.

"Well what can we do? What I have learned about Wilhelmina's evil plans is that the sooner you stop them the better," Daniel replied.

--

Betty unconsciously typed away at her work while her mind tried its best to figure out a reason why Daniel had met Molly and was going to meet her again. Although, she hated to think about it, Betty couldn't help but think that Daniel was possibly being unfaithful. _But…I can see the honesty in his eyes every time. _

Betty was soon disrupted from her thoughts when Molly returned.

"Is Daniel back yet?" she inquired politely, but hastily.

"No, not yet," Betty said quickly, hoping she'd soon leave.

"I can't believe I'm even here," Molly went on as she began to pace, "You would think that since the whole 'scandal' in the closet I wouldn't set foot on this floor, or even in this building."

"I was really hoping," Betty mumbled under her breath.

"What?"

"Nothing…what's…wrong?" Betty asked, regretting her action the very moment after the words left her mouth.

"I came here a three weeks ago to see Connor…he had moved out the week before, I just wanted to talk to him. But, when I rounded the corner to his office I saw him with that woman. The one that oozes pretentiousness…she has the very perky assistant," Molly began.

"Wilhelmina?" Betty asked arching her eyebrow, growing impatient with the blond.

Molly nodded and started up again, "Yeah, her. Anyway, I saw her and Connor together. Wilhelmina was running her hands all over Connor's chest and he didn't stop her. From that moment I knew it was really over between us…but then…then I ran into Daniel." Betty tried to interrupt, but she couldn't, "We talked for a while, the rest of the afternoon really. It was nice to have someone actual listen to me for more than five minutes and then have to run off to work."

Betty again tried to say something, but this time Daniel interrupted her.

"Molly! Hey. I wasn't expecting you," Daniel said genuinely surprised, "Why don't we go see Connor…or something."

Before she could answer, Daniel practically pulled Molly down the hallway. None of this would have bother Betty as much as it did if Daniel had just given her a look. Any look. Something that said, 'Sorry', 'Don't worry', 'Trust me', or anything would have been good with Betty. But Betty received no look.

Daniel finally stopped at the end a hallway that was being used to house clothes. He turned to Molly, who was giving him a very confused and almost hurt look.

"What are you doing here?" Daniel asked, practically demanded.

"I wanted to see if you wanted to talk some other time," Molly said sheepishly.

"Molly, you're a wonderful woman...but I can't. Like I said before, you should really go talk to Connor. I'm sure you two can work it out," Daniel said, trying to assure her. _I can't believe Connor has kept Molly out of the loop. _

Molly looked down, "I always hated myself for thinking that Connor and I had fallen out of love…"

"Just go talk to Connor, okay?" Daniel pleaded.

"I can't…he can't look at me anymore in spite of the fact that he and I are no longer in love with each other," Molly continued her self-pity.

Daniel lifted her chin, "Have you talked to him since the video was released?"

"No…not that it matters…why?" Molly sighed.

"Talk to him…a lot has happened since then," Daniel assured her.

Molly smiled and placed her hand on Daniel's face. He gave her an unnerved smile. She leaned in and stole a kiss from his lips. Daniel immediately broke the kiss, "Molly! What the hell are you doing?"

"Oh c'mon Daniel, you can't stand there and tell you haven't wanted to do that," Molly replied with annoyance.

"Yes, I can. Molly I have a girlfriend and I love her very much. I'll admit I did like for awhile, but I now know who I want to spend my life with," Daniel retorted.

"You mustn't of been dating long and I'm surprised you're already thinking of marriage…you know that's what happened to Connor and I," Molly sighed, "Just have that little assistant of yours call your _girlfriend _and tell her you had to work late, I'm sure she'll understand."

"Just…go," Daniel said as he gritted his teeth. He was unable to bear hearing Molly talk about Betty the way she did.

"Alright, fine. But remember, celebrities that aren't in a celebrity couple tend to fall apart. Like Connor and me," Molly said as she started to walk away.

Daniel's eyes narrowed, "How do you know?"

"Suzuki St. Pierre hasn't said anything about you and your latest girlfriend, so I only assumed so," Molly replied, not even looking back.

As Daniel watched Molly walk down the hallway, he couldn't help but think about what she had said. _Could it be true? No, Betty and I are different. We're meant for each other…we won't fall apart. She's my soul mate. It took me forever to realize it, but I know she is! She's the one; she'll always be the one. _

Daniel continued to mull over the thought as he walked back to his office in hopes to explain everything to Betty. However, Betty wasn't there but what was there was a note left for him. It read:

'Dear Mr. Meade-_Never a good sign when she calls me 'Mr. Meade'._

I have left for lunch. I will return shortly.

B. Suarez'

Without even seeing Betty, Daniel already knew she was angry. Ins spite of the fact that she tries to hide it, Daniel knows when she's angry by three signs. One, she calls him 'Mr. Meade'. Two, her words are short, but very professional. And finally, she only talks to him through messages.

Daniel sighed as he walked over to his office with the note in hand.

--

I know you want Daniel and Betty to make up and they will…soon-ish. I promise. :)


	14. Chapter 14

I adored this past episode (2/5), but still the Molly/Daniel thing is driving me up a wall. She needs to go! Alas, I cannot control what happens on the show! I want to thank all of my reviews once more. Again, they do mean a lot to me.

**I'm really, really sorry it took me so long to post this chapter! I hope it makes up for the delay.

Disclaimer: Nothing!

--

Typically after Betty leaves a very professional message to Daniel, she would go to Christina to vent about Daniel. However, today was not the case. Christina had been given strict orders to be on bed rest for the remainder of her pregnancy. Meaning that, she'd be cooped up Wilhelmina's apartment for the next six weeks. Which was good for Daniel and Conner since Wilhelmina would be there most of the time.

But to be to the point, Betty was left with no one to turn to. She could talk to Hilda, but Betty knew that Hilda would pull out the 'Big Sister' act. Betty couldn't have that; she didn't want to ruin the relationship Daniel had with her family.

So Betty headed to _her _apartment. After getting up the five flights of stairs she stopped a moment to catch her breath. To add insult to injury, Betty saw Jesse walking towards her. She tried to walk pass him and act like she didn't see him. It didn't work. Jesse turned to her, "Betty?"

She looked up, "Oh, hi Jesse."

"Hey. Are you okay? You look upset," he observed.

"Yeah, just fine," Betty sniffled, trying to hold back the tears she knew that were coming.

"Are you sure? You look all glassy eyed, like you're about to cry," Jesse continued.

Betty nodded. She really didn't want to talk to him, "Yeah, I'm fine. Really. I'm just having a bad day."

Betty started to walk away, but Jesse followed her, "I know we're not whatever we were before, but if you need to talk to someone, I'm here."

"No, I'm good Jesse. I'd just like to be alone for right now," Betty replied as she headed towards her apartment.

"C'mon Betty, we could have a few drinks and you can rant to me about whoever made you upset," Jesse offered as he leaned against the wall.

"No, I can't. I'm sorry Jesse," Betty said as opened she the door and entered.

"I knew he was bad news," Jesse scolded as he stood in the doorway.

"Who?" Betty asked.

"That guy, Daniel," Jesse clarified.

Betty sighed, "He's not, he's just…"

"An ass," Jesse finished as he entered the apartment.

"No," Betty said defensively, "You don't even know him."

"You're right, but what I do know is you're too good for him," Jesse observed once more.

"Whatever, Jesse," Betty replied with a roll of her eyes.

"C'mon Betty, you know you're angry and upset why don't you let it out?" Jesse asked.

"Because, I'm not angry and upset," Betty grumbled, as she grew even more impatient with Jesse.

He gave her a surprised look, "Then what are you?"

"Disappointed," she sighed.

Jesse nodded as he started to turn to walk away, however, he quickly turned back around. Jesse surprised Betty with a kiss. Stunned by shock for a moment, Betty soon broke the kiss.

"Jesse! What the hell?!" Betty demanded.

"I'm sorry, Betty, but I couldn't help it. It just pisses me off that you're with that magazine playboy when you could be with me. I can't buy you a Tiffany necklace, a Chanel dress, or Prada shoes, but what I can give you is more than money can buy," Jesse promised her.

"And, let me guess. What you can give me, is you?" Betty presumed.

"Yes," Jesse replied with a smile, "I'm better than Daniel because I know I'd would be lucky enough to have a someone like you. I wouldn't take you for granted or use you."

"All of what you're saying is nice. It really is, but it doesn't mean anything because I know it's all about you. Everything is about you, even if you're doing it 'for me'. I understand that you think Daniel isn't good enough for me, but you have to know that I love him. Despite, what has happened, I still do. Jesse, you're a nice guy, but there isn't going to be anything between us besides friendship," Betty explained as sweetly and kindly as she could.

Jesse nodded and walked away. Betty took a deep breath before she closed her door. She made her way to the couch and flopped down. Betty heard her phone go off a couple of times. One text message was from Daniel, she ignored that one. The other was from Christina. Reading the message, Betty chuckled. It was just the right thing that Betty needed to cheer her up.

Betty laid there texting Christina for thirty minutes. She only stopped because she fell asleep. Betty was rudely awaked by Amanda's grand entrance.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, brow raised.

"I was sleeping," Betty groaned as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes, "Shouldn't you be at work?"

"I could ask you the same thing. I'm actually here because Daniel sent me to look for you," Amanda explained.

Betty sat up, "Oh?"

"Yeah, he said that he needed to talk to you or something and that you must be really angry with him because you won't even talk to him through texts or instant messages…or something like that," Amanda recited.

"Well you can tell him, if he wants to talk to me he can come find me himself," Betty retorted.

Amanda shrugged, "Alright."

"Wait, Amanda," Betty called.

"Yeah?"

"How would you like to have Marc as a roommate?" Betty asked with a smile.

"Really?" Amanda asked excitedly.

"Yeah, I thought about it for a while and I think he'd be a good replacement," Betty said.

"Aw, Betty. Thanks," Amanda said genuinely.

Betty smiled, "Ask him about it."

"I will," Amanda assured her.

A few hours passed and Betty continued to mull around her apartment. She had no intentions of returning to Mode for the rest of the day. Betty was sure Molly was still hanging around there somewhere. She decided to order Chinese and she was now waiting for it to arrive. Betty buzzed the person at the door in and waited for the knock at the door. When it came, Betty already had the money ready. However, it wasn't the delivery-person. It was Daniel.

"I'm sorry," were the first words out of his mouth.

Betty just stared at him.

"Betty, please believe me. I really, truly am sorry. I should have told you that I met with Molly before. I know I should have given you some sort of assuring look before she and I left, but I didn't. I understand that you're angry with me, but please Betty believe me. There is absolutely nothing between us and I know it must be hard for you to trust me when I say that because I did like her for a while. But, Betty I love you and only you. I want us to get married, have a family, and grow old together. There are so many things I want us to do together. I want us to travel around the world when we retire or now or whenever. Betty please say something," Daniel told her, sounding like a hopeless, but endearing romantic.

"Do you want some sesame chicken?" Betty asked with a smile.

"I'd love some," Daniel replied as he leaned in and kissed her.

She kissed him back before breaking the kiss, "My dad wants grandkids."

"Oh really?" Daniel asked slyly.

"Yep," Betty grinned.

Daniel smiled, "I can't wait."

--

I was going to draw out Betty and Daniel's fight, but I didn't like it so I tossed that idea as you can see. Haha. I hope you liked this chapter, reviews always welcomed!


	15. Chapter 15

So I am really sorry I haven't updated in two or three weeks (I can't even remember now!), I've been really sick and have had to go catch up on missed schoolwork! But, I'm thankfully on the road to recovery! So more chapters to come!

Disclaimer: Oh, if I only owned the show. Haha.

--

Two weeks had passed since Daniel made his big apologetic speech to Betty. Life from there was very smooth for the two. In those two weeks, Christina gave birth to a healthy baby boy. Wilhelmina was thrilled. Christina was even more thrilled that her obligation to Wilhelmina was over.

It was now the dead of winter and Daniel had come down with a nasty cold. Betty was playing nurse for him. The two took off for a few days so Daniel could recuperate. Daniel lay in bed, waiting for Betty to come back.

"Betty…" Daniel called her in his pathetic state.

She came into the doorway, smiling sweetly, "What?"

"When you get a chance could you get me more tea?" he asked with intermittence of coughs.

"Sure," she replied happily as she came into the room and sat on the bed. Betty smiled, "How are you feeling?"

"Bad," Daniel replied simply.

"Aw," Betty said sympathetically, "I'll go make you some soup, my dad's recipe of course."

"Thank you so much Betty," Daniel literally coughed out.

"It's no problem," she replied as she kissed him on the forehead, "Oh my god, Daniel you're burning up! I'll be right back with some Advil!"

Betty got up quickly and ran into the bathroom. She came back just as quickly as she left, Advil in hand. Betty handed the two pills and a glass of water to Daniel, who took it gratefully.

"I'm going to get started on the soup, you get some rest," Betty instructed.

Daniel nodded, "Yeah, ok."

"I'm going to borrow your laptop because I left my charger at work," Betty said as she picked up the laptop.

"Ok," Daniel said sleepily.

Betty headed for the kitchen and pulled out all of the ingredients that she needed for the soup and put a pot of tea on the stove. Once she got it started, Betty opened up the laptop. She was quite surprised to see the website that Daniel had up. It was the Tiffany Engagement section. He had a few rings selected. Not wanting to tease herself with the idea that Daniel was considering proposal, Betty minimized the page and opened a new one. She checked her email like she had intended. However, her eyes kept staring at the minimized web page with wonder. Yet, Betty would soon shake the thought from her mind as soon as it came up.

Betty was jarred from her thoughts when the whistle of the teakettle started shrieking. She turned the stove off and poured the hot water over the tea sachet and honey. The sweet aroma of jasmine and white tea filled the room. Betty grabbed the mug and headed for the bedroom. Daniel had fallen asleep. She smiled and set the mug on the nightstand next to him. As Betty left for the kitchen once more she heard Daniel call her, "Betty?"

"Yeah?"

"Can you bring me my laptop?" Daniel asked barely above a whisper.

Betty nodded, "Sure. I'll bring it with your soup, plus I still need to check my email."

"Oh…you wer-were on it?" Daniel asked a bit panic-y.

"Yeah, I told you," Betty replied nonchalantly.

"Then you saw what was on there?" Daniel asked hesitantly.

"Yeah, I did," Betty said with a small smile as she sat down on the bed.

Daniel sat up, "It probably freaked you out and I know we just started dating. It's just Betty, I know you're the one. But, if we're moving too fast, I understand. I won't bring it back up."

"No, Daniel it's fine. You know I love you but are you ready to get married? I know I'm not. There are still things I'd like to get done before hand. But, Daniel when you ask me, I'll say 'yes'," Betty assured him.

Daniel smiled, "That's good to know Betty. And I'm not ready either, it's just life is so short and I want to get the most out of it. And I want to get the most out of it with you."

"I know and we will soon," Betty replied as she got up, "Your soup should be done soon."

"Ok, thanks Betty," Daniel said gratefully.

Betty left the bedroom and headed to the kitchen. The soup was practically done by now. She waited the length of time the soup still needed and then ladled it out into a bowl for Daniel. Betty quickly checked her email and then closed the laptop. Complete with more hot tea, Betty brought the meal and his laptop to Daniel.

"Thank you so much, Betty," Daniel said gladly.

"No problem," Betty replied casually as she sat on the other side of the bed.

"You know, when you get sick I'll be here to take care of you," Daniel mused as he took a spoonful of the soup into his mouth.

"I know," Betty giggled, "But, you must remember I hardly get sick."

"That's true. I can't recall you ever really being sick. It seems to always be me," Daniel chuckled.

"Thanks to lots of vitamin C," Betty sighed.

Daniel ate another spoonful of soup, "I should probably get some of that."

--

First off, I'm really sorry that this chapter is so short! It's really just a filler chapter so you guys don't go through story withdraw. There will be a longer chapter sometime maybe this weekend. I want to say 'thanks' for being so loyal to this story despite my terrible updating habit. Secondly, I want to let you know that Daniel won't be proposing anytime soon, sad to say. I just wanted the idea to be out there and I think it works only because they already have such a strong relationship. All right, well I'm done rambling. Please leave a review or something. XD Until next time!


	16. Chapter 16

I'm sorry my updating has been quite sporadic, well down right bad by now. I hope to get back on a once a week schedule since school is nearing the end (yay!). However, school still (somehow) has a nifty way of getting in the way of that! Nevertheless, I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Disclaimer: Nope, nothing.

--

Within a couple weeks Daniel fully recovered from his cold. His first day back, Claire came into his office with a smile on her face. Daniel greeted his mother, "Hi, Mom."

"Hello, dear. I was wondering what you and Betty are doing tonight," Claire said as she sat down.

Daniel thought a moment, "We don't have anything planned. Why?"

"Well, I would like for you and Betty to come over for dinner. Oh, and Alexis will be there too. I want us to have a family dinner since Betty's practically family anyway," Claire explained.

"Alright. That sounds great. I'll let Betty know," agreed Daniel.

Claire smiled as she stood up, "I'll be looking forward to it."

Daniel paused a moment before saying goodbye. With her motherly senses, Claire could tell that her son wanted to say something, "What is it, Daniel?"

"I want…to marry Betty," Daniel said abruptly.

"Oh?" Claire said ecstatically.

"Yeah, but I feel crazy for thinking that," he continued.

"Why?"

Daniel looked down in embarrassment, "Because we haven't even…you know."

"Had sex?" Claire finished for her son very casually.

"Yeah, that."

"Well, you know Daniel, peopled used to never have sex before they got married. Your father and I didn't. And to be honest, dear, the wait is really-" Claire was cut off by her son.

"Okay, okay Mom. That's more than I need to know, thanks," Daniel replied.

Claire chuckled, but became serious, "You'll know when the time is right."

"But that's not the only reason," Daniel continued.

"What else is it, dear?" Claire asked, concerned.

"Life is just so short and I want to spend the rest of my life with Betty. But, I don't want to hold her back. I want her to be more than just my assistant," he explained.

Claire nodded, proud of her son's selflessness, "Let Betty know you want to her to expand her horizons and then you won't hold her back. You'll be there to support her all the way and Betty will know that."

"Thanks, mom," Daniel said gratefully.

Daniel said goodbye to his mother. He soon got back to sorting through the work that he had missed. Much to his surprise, Daniel found that most of his work was done, it just needed his signature. Daniel smiled, _Thanks, Betty._

As if she knew Daniel was thinking about her, Betty came strolling into the office. Daniel's smile only grew bigger, "Hey."

"Hey. I'm sure you're pleased to see everything's in order," Betty said cheerfully.

"Yeah, this is great, Betty. I swear you should have my job sometimes," Daniel chuckled.

"But then what would I look at during the day?" Betty joked.

Daniel smiled, "My mom would like us to go over to her house for a family dinner with her, Alexis, and us."

"That sounds like a lot fun," Betty said gleefully.

"Yeah, I think it will be," Daniel agreed.

They were quiet for a moment, but then Daniel soon spoke up, "I want it to be special."

"The dinner?" Betty asked, confused.

"No, I mean…our first time," he finally admitted.

"Oh…oh!" Betty said as it hit her as to what Daniel was talking about, "What do you mean by special?"

"Betty, you and I both know I've been with quite a few women, but with them it wasn't special because I didn't love them. I love you and…I don't know why it's so difficult for me to explain it. I just want to be special," Daniel said, rambling.

Betty smiled, "It will be."

--

Five o'clock rolled around and both Betty and Daniel were already home. They were getting ready to go to dinner at Claire's. Betty was ready far before Daniel was. She was dressed in a simple black empire style dress, however, in typical Betty fashion, she had a bright blue cardigan and stockings to go with it.

Betty sat on the bed while she waited for Daniel to finish getting dressed. He was currently rummaging through his closet for a tie. While his head was still in the closet, Daniel held up a tie, "How about this one?"

"What about that pastel yellow one you have?" Betty suggested.

Daniel pulled the suggested tie out and put it on. He turned to Betty, "Looks good?"

"Great," she assured him.

He smiled as he walked over to the bed. Daniel started to tie the tie until Betty stopped him. She took the silky material into her hands and began to tie the tie quicker than he ever could. Daniel chuckled.

"What's so funny?" Betty asked.

"You can tie a tie better than I can," Daniel stated with a smile.

Betty smiled as well, "Well, I would think after all most three years now of tying your ties I would hope I'm good at it."

Betty finished by smoothing out the silky material. Daniel thanked her by placing a peck on the lips that turned into a passionate kiss. Betty depended the kiss a bit more, Daniel followed suit. He pulled them down onto the bed, still kissing Betty with fiery intent.

Betty began to pull at Daniel's suit jacket, which caused Daniel to stop kissing her. He looked into her eyes, "What is it?"

"We have to get going," she sighed, slightly disappointed that they could not continue.

Frustration evident in his eyes Daniel rolled over so Betty could get up. He lay on the bed for a moment. Betty could sense Daniel's discontent, "Daniel, what's wrong?"

"Just, frustrated," Daniel mumbled.

Betty turned to him, placing her petite hand on his muscular chest, "I know."

"It's not just _that_ frustration," Daniel clarified.

Betty gave him a puzzled look, "Then what is it?"

"I want you to marry me and not be held back," Daniel said softly.

"Held back from what?"

"You're career. I know you're going to go places. You might even be a rival Editor-in-Chief one day," he explained hopefully.

"Daniel, marriage won't hold me back, if anything, it'll help me," Betty assured him.

Daniel smiled.

The two got up and headed for the front door. They were soon on the streets of New York, heading for Daniel's childhood home. Daniel pulled up Claire's Brownstone and parked. He and Betty walked up to the door and knocked. The clicking sound of high heels on Italian marble could be heard through the mahogany door. It opened to reveal Alexis. She smiled pleasantly, "Hey."

"Hi, Alexis," Betty returned cheerily.

"Well, come in. Mom's been eager for you two to show up," Alexis informed them as she took Betty and Daniel's jackets.

"Daniel! Betty!" Claire called as she walked into the living room.

"Hi Mom," Daniel greeted.

"It's good to see you Mrs. Meade," Betty said through a hug.

"Oh please, Betty, call me Claire," Claire replied.

Betty smiled, "Ok, Claire."

Alexis came back into the living room. Claire smiled, "Well, now that everyone's here, let's eat."

All four of them made their way into the dining room. Claire sat at the head of the table, Daniel and Betty on one side, and Alexis on the opposite side. Claire had all the food set and ready for them. And it was still hot. Everything was portioned out, the chicken, peas, and potatoes.

Daniel sighed contently, "This is really good, Mom."

"Thank you. Since your father died I was able to get rid of our chef and start cooking again," Claire mused happily.

"It's been a while since I've had your cooking," Alexis said, reminiscing.

They ate in satisfied peace. Alexis and Claire sharing embarrassing stories about Daniel and he did likewise. Betty gave Daniel a sympathetic pat on the leg when his mother and sister ganged up on him.

Dinner finished with success, Claire and Betty cleared the table while Alexis set the flatware out for dessert later to come. Daniel had gone off to the bathroom. Betty came out of the kitchen; Alexis saw her and called her over.

"I thought you'd like to see this," Alexis said with a smile.

She handed Betty a photo of Daniel from at least ten years ago. His hair was longer than Betty had ever seen or even fathomed. There was a thin beard growing, something Betty had very rarely seen. And to top it off, Daniel had a cheap pair of sunglasses and a bandana tied around his head.

"Is…this Daniel?" Betty asked, slowly.

"Yeah, from his high school days," Alexis replied.

"Oh…oh wow," Betty stated, barely able to contain her laughter.

Daniel returned from the bathroom, "Oh wow, what?"

"This," Betty said with a huge smile as she handed him the picture.

"Alexis!" Daniel whined, "How many times are you going to show that picture?!"

"As many as I can," Alexis chuckled.

"So, did you sing or did you just do it for the look?" Betty asked.

Daniel sighed, "I sung too."

"You'll have to sing for me one day," Betty said, more like demanded.

"I will," Daniel conceded.

"Promise?"

"Promise."

Claire came out from the kitchen, wondering what the commotion was about, "What's going on?"

"Alexis showed Betty the picture of me from high school," Daniel explained.

"Ahh, yes. _That_ picture," Claire said recollecting. She turned to Betty; "he was in a Battle of the Bands with three of his friends."

Betty nodded, giggling still.

After getting the full story from Daniel, everyone sat back down at the table for dessert.

--

_Well, I want to apologize for the ridiculously long delay for this chapter. If you're still around for the next chapter (which, I would totally understand if you're not) there's going to be a time jump. Anyway, I would love some reviews, but as always, they're not necessary. Thanks a lot!_

_Forever Is Never Forever. _


	17. Chapter 17

I want to thank all of you who've reviewed. It truly means a lot! So, here's the latest chapter, I hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: Well, if I haven't gotten the rights by now…

--

Betty arrived home after an exhausting day as Mode's new Feature's Editor. She dropped her things off on the key table by the door. It was dark throughout the apartment, but there was an orange glow coming from their bedroom. Curious, Betty headed down the hallway. As she got closer, Betty could hear the soft hum of guitar cords.

Pushing the door open, Betty found Daniel sitting on the bed. Guitar in hand, Daniel was dressed like he was in the picture Alexis had shown her. Thin stubble lined his jaw along with dark aviator sunglasses. With the exception of the hair of course, he had a cheap wig for that. He was softly humming as he stroked the strings of the guitar. There were candles scattered around the room, giving everything a soft, warm glow.

"Daniel, what is all this?" Betty asked.

"Well, I promised you I'd sing for you one day and today's the day. I know you had a ruff day today," Daniel said sympathetically.

Betty smiled as she placed a light kiss on his lips, "Thank you."

She kicked her pumps off as she flopped onto the bed. Betty shifted to lay on her stomach while Daniel prepared to start playing. He played songs he'd been writing about Betty since they started dating. Seven songs and a half an hour later, Daniel placed his guitar against the nightstand and crawled into bed with Betty. They found their way under the covers, Daniel held Betty lovingly. He left a trail of butterfly kisses down her neck.

"I love you," Betty said sleepily.

"I love you, too," Daniel returned.

She yawned, "Will you sing for our kids?"

"Of course," Daniel replied, loving the idea of having a family with Betty.

"Do you know lullabies?" Betty asked, smiling.

"Well, I'll have 9 months to learn some," Daniel chuckled drowsily.

Betty turned her head to look at him, "You'll be a great dad."

"You think so?"

"You were so good with DJ, so sure," Betty assured him.

"Do you think you'll be able to handle another Daniel Meade?" he asked jokingly.

She chuckled, "I think the world would explode if there was another Daniel Meade."

"Probably," he conceded.

--

It was lazy Saturday for both Betty and Daniel. Waking up later than they usually do, they were a little disarrayed. Once they got themselves together, Daniel prepared breakfast. Betty was working on her laptop, reading over the article for the Features piece.

Her brow furrowed is discontent as she sipped her coffee, "Daniel what do you think of this paragraph here?"

"Hmm," Daniel said out of habit as he read it over, "It seems a little unneeded, but if you need for length than keep it."

"Well, I was thinking about sticking another picture there just to break it up a bit," Betty reasoned.

"That works too," Daniel agreed as he kissed her on the cheek.

Daniel sat down next to her, breakfast in hand. Betty saved her document and shut her laptop.

"I want three kids," he said after a bite of food.

"Oh?"

"Yeah," Daniel continued, "I'm not saying we need to have three though."

Betty smiled, "Three sounds great."

"Can one of them be Daniel Jr.?" he asked jokingly.

"Well, I thought we established another Daniel Meade would cause the world to end," Betty said laughing.

"We did, but it doesn't have to stop us," Daniel replied.

"True. We can have a Daniel Jr. only if he's not a womanizer," Betty conceded.

Daniel chuckled, "Deal."

Betty gave him a peck on the check as she forked another piece of food from her plate.

"If we're have three, then we're going to need more space," Betty sighed.

"I saw a two bedroom apartment available only two blocks from here," Daniel said nonchalantly.

Knowing him too well, "How long has it been up for lease?"

"About a month or two," Daniel confessed.

"Why don't we go see it later today?" Betty offered.

"That sounds good," he agreed.

Betty smiled, "You have plans don't you?"

"About what?" Daniel asked, playing dumb.

"Oh you know what, about us and our future," Betty teased.

Daniel smiled, "I do. I have big plans. One of them involves us getting a bigger place."

"I like that you have plans because I have them too," Betty said happily.

"And what are your plans, Ms. Saurez?" Daniel asked in a mock boss voice.

"Well, Mr. Meade, if you must know, I want us to get married and have a house where our kids can run around and play. You know, the standard fairy tale wish," Betty chuckled.

"White picket fence or no?" Daniel asked.

"No, I'm not that fanatical about it," Betty joked.

"How about a Brownstone, once we have kids," Daniel offered.

"That'd be nice," Betty agreed.

"So what about pets?"

"I like animals, but Hilda's allergenic to most of them so we never really had any pets, well except for our goldfish," Betty explained.

"Let's go adopt a dog," Daniel replied.

"Like right now?"

"Yeah!" Daniel said enthusiastically.

Betty thought for a moment, "Does your building even allow for pets?"

"Yeah, that's why I'm offering," he replied excitedly, like a small child.

"Ok, are we doing this instead of seeing the other apartment?" Betty asked.

"Sure, I mean, we might as well just skip the bigger apartment phase and go right for the house phase," Daniel reasoned.

"Sounds good," Betty agreed.

"Good," Daniel smiled as he quickly finished his breakfast.

Betty soon followed, but not as fast as Daniel. He was soon dressed in his "casual" clothing. Which involved an Armani 'relaxed' dress shirt, with a light cotton sweater over it, and jeans. Daniel waited eagerly for Betty to dress. She came out in a lime green sweater and straight leg jeans. The sweater was a Christmas gift from Daniel, it showed off all the right features of Betty's body, not that she had any bad ones.

The two left the apartment and headed for the local animal shelter. It was now springtime in New York City and the recently forgotten warmness of the sun returned. It made the early afternoon even more pleasant for the couple. They decided to walk and take advantage of nice weather.

Arriving at the shelter, Betty and Daniel walked around. They looked at all the dogs up for adoption. Betty and Daniel both settled on a dog they wanted to see. She was a beagle-hound mix, with big brown eyes and floppy pointed ears. She was a light brown/tan color and was very excited to meet Betty and Daniel. They played with her for about a half and hour or so and found out that she was very well behaved.

"She's already house broken and knows the basic tricks," one of the employees, Ann, informed them.

"About how old is she?" Betty asked.

"Six months or so," replied Ann.

"Does she have a name?" Daniel asked.

"No, she was found on the street, but around here we call her "Moxy" because she's got spunk," added another.

"I like that name," Betty said, smiling.

"Me too," agreed Daniel.

"What do you think?" Betty asked.

"Well, I really like her," Daniel said, hopefully.

Betty chuckled, "Okay, we'll take her."

"Great! I'll just get you the paperwork and "New Home" package," replied Ann.

She came swiftly back with the forms, which Daniel took care of quickly, "Does she need shots or anything?"

"She does and you can set up an appointment today if you want," Ann added, "Also, you can get her registered right now for no fee."

Daniel nodded, "Ok."

Ann quickly set up their appointment for the following week and registered Moxy. She then handed Betty the care package and a leash and collar. Which Betty placed around Moxy's neck. The care packaged include a week's worth of dog food, a toy, and some treats. Betty and Daniel thanked Ann as the left the shelter.

Walking back home, they stopped into a pet store to buy the necessities. More dog food, food and water bowls, a bed, more treats, and a few toys. As they neared the apartment building, they made sure Moxy did her business before heading in. Once in the apartment, Daniel and Betty set everything up. Food and water bowls in the dining room, bed in the living room, and as well as the toys.

After everything was perfect, Betty and Daniel flopped on the couch with Moxy soon joining them.

"They were right, she's quite spunky," Betty laughed.

"She really is."

Moxy barked in agreement.

--

Once again sorry for the delay. I think I'm on a good schedule by now, so more updates should come sooner. Leave a review if you feel so inclined, they're good encouragement. Haha.


	18. Chapter 18

I

Once again, thanks for the reviews!! Here's chapter eighteen, enjoy! I can't believe this story topped 150 reviews! It's all thanks to you guys! Keep it up ;D

Disclaimer: Not a thing!

--

Two weeks had passed since Betty and Daniel adopted Moxy. Despite several accidents and ruined pieces of furniture, life with their new companion was going well. Today was the day that Daniel started working on his plans for their future.

Betty sat on the living room floor, playing with Moxy. They were playing tug-of-war with a thick knotted rope. Daniel sat on the couch, trying to pull together the loose ends for this months issue. He was on his laptop typing up the Editor's letter. He finished and looked up, "So, I know what the next issue of Mode will be."

"Really, what?" Betty asked, curious.

"A wedding issue," Daniel said simply.

"But isn't ELLE doing one next month as well?" Betty reminded him.

"So what? We'll blow ELLE right out the water," Daniel replied confidently.

Betty's brow arched as she joined him on the couch, "And how do you intend on accomplishing this feat?"

"Well, I know for a fact that ELLE is featuring whatever star is getting married in the next coming months. So, what we will do is run a contest for a couple to win all expenses paid wedding. But it'll be for a couple that couldn't financially have the wedding of their dreams. So the whole issue is based on an average person instead of some superstar. We'll have articles on budgeting for a wedding, the best places for a honeymoon with out breaking the bank, and stuff like that. It'll be great!" Daniel said enthusiastically.

"Daniel, that sounds great, amazing really. We'd definitely beat ELLE without a doubt, but where are we going to come up with the money? I mean, no one knows where Connor ran off to, and we're cash strapped as it is," Betty said realistically.

"Taken care of, I called Vera Wang this morning while you were walking Moxy. She owes me for an incident that happened before you came. I'll spare the hairy details for another time," Daniel explained, "She's willing to pay for it, if she gets advertising for the next month at a discount."

"How that allowing Vera to pay you back?" Betty asked, confused.

"She's not just paying for the dresses, she's paying for the entire wedding. She gave me and twenty-five thousand dollar limit, which is fine because that's the average price of a wedding these days," Daniel clarified.

"All right! Does Wilhelmina know about this?" Betty asked.

"No, not yet, but she will. But this is going to be your first issue as Mode's new Features Editor. I want you to cover the couple's story and such," Daniel explained.

"Okay," Betty agreed, "Anything else?"

"Yeah, I'd like your in put on what you think about wedding and the process before the actual day," Daniel added.

"Great, sounds like fun. So where is this advertisement going to be placed in this issue of Mode?" Betty asked as she pulled out the final draft.

Daniel flipped to the front cover, "Well, this contest will boost sales as well, so I was thinking in the right hand corner, in red font. What do you think?"

"Well where are we going to put the "DIY: Create your own style with your old clothes!" tag?" Betty asked, knowing the writer had worked hard on this piece.

"Left, mid page, big black font for the 'DIY' in the table of contents page?" Daniel suggested.

Betty nodded, "Sounds great. I know Pamela will appreciate it."

"Good. Well I have to go," Daniel said abruptly.

"What? Why?" Betty asked, confused.

"I need to get this to Wilhelmina ASAP, plus get the cover page and table of contents page redesigned. Also, Vera agreed to allow us to put the contest article on one of her ad pages, so I need to get that added," Daniel rambled off as he grabbed his keys.

"But don't you have to have a whole staff meeting for that?" Betty asked.

Daniel shook his head, "I took care of it. All of it. I called Denise, Eric, Robert, Elise, and Wade. They got all of it done and without Wilhelmina knowing too."

"Wow, Daniel, you're really dedicated to this issue," Betty said proudly.

"Thanks Betty, it means a lot to know you're one hundred percent behind me," Daniel replied gratefully.

"So when will you be back?" Betty asked as she walked him to the door.

Daniel kissed her, "I don't know, it all depends on how Wilhelmina reacts."

"So, midnight?" Betty joked, kissing him back.

"Probably. I'll see you later," Daniel assured her, "But maybe not in time for dinner."

"Fine," Betty replied with a fake pout, "Love you."

"Love you too," Daniel called as he went out the door.

--

Now, Daniel only partially lied about his whereabouts. It was true, he was going to show Wilhelmina the new cover and propose the new issue. Whether she liked it or not, Daniel was going to continue on with the Wedding issue. However, before taking care of that task, there was another at hand. Daniel was headed for the Suarez household in Queens.

He arrived in the quaint neighborhood in a decent amount of time. Over the past few months, Daniel had found several shortcuts to the house. Getting out of his Ferrari, Daniel walked up to the door and knocked. Ignacio answered, "Hello, Daniel, you're earlier than I expected."

"Oh, I'm sorry Ignacio, I can come back later if you want," Daniel offered.

"No, no. Come it," Ignacio assured him as he moved to the side to allow Daniel to enter.

Daniel walked into the living room and sat down on the couch. Ignacio followed. He settled into his chair, "So what was it that you wanted to talk to me about?"

"Well, as you know, I love Betty very much. She's everything to me. I am very lucky to know her and have her love as well. So, I'm here today to tell you," Daniel paused nervously, "that I'd like to marry Betty. But, uh, more importantly ask for your blessing."

Ignacio merely smiled, "I was wondering when you would be coming around to ask me. And of course Daniel. I can't see Betty with any other man."

"Thank you, Ignacio," Daniel said gratefully.

Ignacio shook his head, "You don't need to thank me. Just make my daughter happy."

"I will," Daniel said proudly.

"Do you have the ring with you?" Ignacio asked eagerly.

"I do," Daniel replied as he took the small black box out of his pocket. Opening it, he showed Ignacio the diamond ring. It was a princess cut diamond with a simple platinum band. It was the simplicity that made it perfect for Betty. Daniel knew that she wouldn't want anything flashy or overbearing and Ignacio agreed with him.

"It's perfect, she'll love it," Ignacio said happily.

Daniel smiled, "Thanks."

"When are you going to ask her?" Ignacio asked, curious.

"Not for awhile. I want to use this coming issue of Mode to get her thinking about wedding and marriage. The whole issue is about weddings, so I thought it would be suitable," Daniel explained, "But, if I find that the time is right I'll ask her then."

Ignacio nodded, "Well, I'm not going to tell Hilda just yet because either she or Justin will end up spilling the beans."

"Ok, thanks again Ignacio," Daniel said as he stood up.

Ignacio walked Daniel to the door and said his goodbyes. The two parted and Daniel headed off to Mode. He had called Wilhelmina ahead of time to arrange a brief meeting. He arrived to the Meade Publications building in record time. They meet in the conference room.

Wilhelmina, per usual, did not look thrilled to see Daniel on off office hours. She sighed impatiently, "Let's go Daniel, it's Saturday and I have better things to be doing."

"Yeah I know, so I'm here to tell you that we're doing a wedding issue next month and we're running a contest in this month's issue. Yeah, I know you're the Creative Director, look at it this way, I just did your job for you. You can take the credit if you want, I don't care. But we're doing a wedding issue next month. I had the layout redone and the contest page added. Vera Wang is going to foot the budget for this endeavor. Plus with the contest, sales should be boosted for this issue. And if it's any consolation, we're going to beat ELLE with our wedding issue," Daniel rambled as fast as he could so he could go home.

"How did you know ELLE was going to have a wedding issue?" Wilhelmina asked, unfazed.

"I know a guy, he owes me," Daniel said. Being intentionally vague.

"All right, fine. Do your wedding issue. If anything goes wrong though, it's all on you," Wilhelmina warned as she got up and left.

Daniel breathed a sigh of relief. She went for it. He smiled a little as he walked out of the conference room.

--

Oh Daniel and your plans! Well thanks for stopping by! Drop me a review, if you care to!


	19. Chapter 19

I want to say thanks to all of your reviews! 'm so happy you're ok with Daniel and Ignacio's plan! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Nothing!

--

Three days after the issue hit the stand, Mode was a hum with work. They had received over a thousand applications for the contest the first day. Not to mention, Mode had a sales boost.

It now had been a two weeks since the release of the issue and it was now time to pick the couple. Wilhelmina left that decision to Daniel, who sought help from Betty. They were down to thirty couples now. Betty and Daniel sat on the couch in their apartment, trying to decide.

Betty sighed, "I can't do this, they're all so deserving."

"I know, but we have to pick one of them," Daniel replied, sifting through the pile to reread the another essay.

Betty place the current file in her "Most Likely To Pick" pile, which contained just about every essay she read so far. Picking up another, Betty began to reread the essay. This was the third time reading this essay and Betty was still convinced this couple truly didn't deserve this chance. She hated thinking such thoughts about people, however, she had to get through this pile one way or another. Tossing the essay aside, she grabbed another.

"So, you still think this is a good idea?" Daniel half joked as he took a sip of his coffee.

Betty nodded, "Yeah, I mean, I like doing projects like this. Giving back, you know?"

"I do," Daniel smiled, "So, have you found any really compelling essays?"

"Most of them are, which makes me happy to know that people at Mode have hearts still. It was a good idea to get some of the workers and interns to read these. I'm not sure how some of them made it in this pile, I suspect those were the ones read by Amanda," Betty chuckled, "But, I have five that I really like so far. What about you?"

"I've found a few," Daniel replied.

Betty smiled as she tossed the folder in her hands to the "Maybe" pile. She then picked up another folder, once she had somehow missed before. The essay was short but sweet, funny, and witty. Unlike most of the essays, Betty could tell it wasn't just the girl who wrote the essay. Their story about their relationship and their devotion to one another was compelling. Betty was all chocked up by the end.

"Daniel, stop reading, I found the couple," Betty announced.

"What? Really?" Daniel asked in disbelief as he took the paper from Betty. He read it, receiving the same emotional impact Betty felt, "Oh, wow."

"I know, right? They're the ones," Betty said smiling.

"We'll call them in the morning?" Daniel suggested.

Betty nodded, "Yeah."

The lucky couple was Matthew Gray and Kimberly O'Neil. He was an intern at Manhattan Grace and she was a high school teacher. They met while studying abroad in London. He proposed to her on their two year anniversary. Collectively, they decided to sacrifice their wedding to help pay for his father's medical bills. Betty found their story to be sweet and endearing.

"Did you find a photographer?" Betty asked.

"Yeah, I called Becks and he said he would do it," Daniel assured her.

"Great," Betty replied, "I can't wait to call them!"

Daniel smiled, "Me either."

The following morning, Daniel and Betty performed their daily routine before work. Daniel would start the coffee while Betty quickly showered and dressed. After applying a light amount of make-up, Betty would appear in the kitchen. She'd kiss Daniel and grab a cup of coffee. Whilst sipping her coffee, Betty checked her e-mail. After hearing the shower shut off after ten minutes, Betty called their favorite deli and placed an order telling they'd be there to pick it up shortly. However, the deli owner's daughter, Jessica, knew this by now.

Daniel came into the kitchen, ready for the day. He kissed Betty and then grabbed his briefcase. With her bag in hand, the couple walked out of the apartment. The town car waiting for them with their favorite driver, Alex. He knew the routine as well. They stopped at the deli, Betty running in to pick the order, one toasted bagel with cream cheese, one breakfast sandwich, and a cup of coffee. The coffee was for Alex, made to his liking as well.

They arrived to their Meade Publications building, Daniel tipping Alex before they entered the building. However, once they entered the building, Betty and Daniel tried to keep the affection for one another low key. They hadn't announced their relationship, which both decided would be for the best. However, Suzuki St. Pierre, was sure Daniel was in committed relationship. Most of the Modies ignored the idea, many hoping it wasn't true so they could have a chance at Daniel.

To Daniel surprise, Betty was far from jealous whenever a female worker would eye Daniel up. He supposed it was because he knew that Betty knew Daniel only had eyes for her. They headed for their respective offices. Betty turned on her computer, checked several e-mails and wrote down a couple of memos. She quickly rescheduled a lunch appointment for Daniel-Betty had yet to break her assistant-ly ways. But, before she realized it, it was time to call Matthew and Kimberly.

Daniel called her over, Betty ran to his office, excitedly. He already had the number dialed and it was ringing. She sat down next to him, Daniel smiled. The monotonous ring filled his office until it abruptly stopped once the line was picked up.

"Hello?" a pleasant female voice answered.

"Hi, Kimberly this is Daniel Meade and Betty Suarez from Mode Magazine," Daniel said happily.

"Oh my god! Seriously?" Kimberly squealed.

"Seriously," Betty confirmed, smiling to Daniel.

"So, we won?!" she asked, ecstatic.

"You have and we wanted to congratulate you personally," Daniel continued.

"Oh, thank you!"

"Well, we should be the ones thanking you. You sent in a wonderful essay," Betty replied.

"We both worked very hard on it," Kimberly said proudly.

"I could tell," Betty reminisced.

"So, Kimberly, is Matt there with you?" Daniel asked, getting down to business.

"No, there was an emergency at the hospital, but I'll pass along any information you give me," Kimberly explained.

"All right, well we're beginning to pull together to start worked on our wedding issue and we'd like to get to know you so we can plan your perfect wedding," Daniel said.

"Sounds good. Do you need us to come in?" Kimberly asked.

"Yes, the sooner the better," Betty added.

"Ok, well, Matt has off tomorrow, so could we come in then?"

"Sure," Betty agreed, "we'll have an assistant give you the directions and set up a time."

"Great!" Kimberly replied happily.

Betty paged her through to one of the assistants. She then turned to Daniel, "This is so exciting!"

"It must be, you're the one writing the article about it," Daniel chuckled.

"I know, but I've always been a sap for weddings. I just can't help it," Betty admitted.

"There's nothing to help, weddings are something to be a sap about," Daniel replied.

Betty smiled before getting up, "Well, I'm going to start on the article. Oh, and I rescheduled your lunch with one of the advertisers to tomorrow afternoon, is that ok?"

"Yeah, fine. That's great actually because Becks is coming in today and I wanted the three of us to have lunch," Daniel agreed.

"Ok, well, I'll see you at lunch then Mr. Meade. I have to get back to work, my boss is a real pain in the ass sometimes," Betty joked as she placed a quick kiss on his lips.

--

Short I know, but it's a filler chapter really. Sorry. I'm not really going to focus on Matt and Kim, because they're not crucial to the story, but they'll pop up every now and again in the next few chapters. Tell me what you think!


	20. Author Notes, Parte Deux

I just wanted to say that I'm really sorry for not updating. I procrastinated all summer so the end of August was crunch time. Don't procrastinate like I do. Haha. Anyway, I hope to have another chapter for you guys soon. I'm not sure when, but soon. With school starting, one never knows. But, I just wanted to let you all know that I didn't forget about this story. It's still very much alive, I promise.

Regards,

Sara (aka forever is never forever).


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